Innocent Cry
by Seth Bramwell
Summary: Sequel to Vendetta... When Annie finds herself pregnant and knows that Team Rocket will be after her, who will be her allies... and who will betray her? Rated R for adult situations, language, and violence. STORY COMPLETE: FINAL CHAPTER IS UP!
1. Prolougue/Part One: The Green Branch

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, Jessie and James, Ash and Misty, Giovanni,   
Domino, Blah, Blah, Blah. Here's what I DO own from this fic: The Red Rockets,   
The Green Branch Rockets, the characters of Annie Masterson, Ian Loomis, Severin   
Salyavin, Raven Koldron, Toby Matthews, Carrie Koldron-Masterson, Jason Calhoun,   
and Laura Cummings. The characters of Michael and Kat Morgan, Constance Conway,   
Li and Virginia Crandall, Kyle Ketchum, and Lunia Oak belong to the very talented   
Angela, and appear in her fic "Generation K" Many, many thanks to her for allowing   
me to use these characters once again. Thanks, Angela, you're the best!  
  
PROLOGUE  
  
The strip was blue. There was no denying it. There was no way to pretend that it   
wasn't. She was pregnant. The hand holding the strip shook slightly as the woman   
stared at it in disbelief. A whirlwind of emotion blasted through her mind . She had only   
slept with him once... but that had been enough, apparently. Slowly, ever so slowly,   
the disbelief and shock gave way to a quiet, unique joy she had never felt before. The   
woman looked around the small apartment that she had found for herself as a hiding   
place, a way to elude the forces that would surely be hunting her. Hers was a life devoid   
of total freedom now, as her plans to regain her freedom had been dashed by outside   
circumstances. Now, she existed as a fugitive from the very criminals whose ranks she   
had once been a member of.   
  
The apartment was a cramped studio on the outskirts of Pallet Town, and the   
cautious ex-criminal was sure that it was the last place they would think to look for her.   
Slowly, the woman set the test strip down and walked to her living room, where a mirror   
hung on the otherwise bare wall. She looked different these days… her trademark red   
dress was not worn, and she hadn't worn her gloves or boots in what felt like ages since   
that night. To say the very least, it certainly had not been an easy move, distancing   
herself from the only life she had known since she was a child, and the sudden separation   
had made her more than a bit uneasy. However, her outwardly calm manner had always   
remained, as had her sharply trained mind.  
  
The woman looked at her reflection with a half-hearted smile. In a soft voice,   
she addressed the woman in the mirror. "Well, you're pregnant." The reflection stared   
back at her, silent, passive, and uncaring. "Did you hear me? I said you're going to   
have a baby!" The woman stated, almost expecting an answer from the form in the   
glass. The woman stared at her reflection, silently cursing it for not holding the answer,   
the appropriate feelings for this moment. After a moment, her face softened, and she   
said again in a whisper, "a baby." This time, the statement was one of quiet awe, not   
just a statement of a cold, indisputable fact. The woman smiled tiredly to her reflection,   
and ran her fingers through her long brown hair. "Congratulations, Agent Masterson.   
It's a baby." Annie said with a world-weary grin.  
  
Innocent Cry  
  
By Allan North  
  
PART ONE – THE GREEN BRANCH  
  
Doctor Ian Loomis watched the woman leave his office with an evil grin. He had   
been informed by his receptionist a week ago that a new patient would be coming in for   
her first appointment today, a pregnant woman named Jan Masters who was concerned   
that she might be too old to have a healthy pregnancy. Ian hadn't batted an eye at the   
news, and he had brushed it off without a care. When Ms. Masters had entered the   
office, however, it was a different story. She was a woman of 49 years, past her   
childbearing prime but not so far past as to make it impossible, and had been dressed in   
jeans and a sweater. Jan Masters had been completely non-descript, but Loomis still felt   
there was something strangely familiar about this woman. It was during his first   
examination of her that he realized it, and knew it to be true even before his nurse had   
the early test results completed.   
  
Jan Masters was a lie, and not a terribly clever one at that. This woman was   
Annie Masterson, and Loomis knew it. Masterson was a person that Loomis could never   
forget, no matter how hard he tried.  
  
Loomis was a member of a special division of Team Rocket known as the Green   
Branch, a distant cadre of Rockets who had been trained to pose as professional   
members of society while still acting as undercover operatives for the Team. Before   
being promoted to the Green Branch and being trained as a doctor, however, Loomis   
had held a different position in Team Rocket… he had been an orderly at the dreaded   
Team Rocket asylum/unstable-agent-dumping-ground, The Resort. It had been there   
that Loomis had first encountered Masters- or more accurately, Masterson.  
  
The elite agent had outranked him by years of experience, and yet a failure had   
thrown her into the world of submission that was The Resort. He had been one of the   
many orderlies who had been called upon to subdue her during many murderous   
outbursts, until she had finally been classified as psychotic and permanently locked   
away. It was then that he had requested the transfer to the newly formed Green Branch,   
and he had not looked back . After much pleading and training, he had finally been   
transferred away, and had existed since then more or less without worry, leaving the   
horrors of The Resort in the Orange islands where they belonged. Perfectly content,   
Loomis went about his life treating patients as a trusted doctor while still acting as a   
Team operative.  
  
Then, a mere month and a half ago, a coded bulletin had come down trough the   
ranks of the Team announcing a serious problem; Annie Masterson, a highly unstable   
Red Rocket, had managed to do the unthinkable and escape from The Resort with the aid   
of another Red turned traitor named Salyavin. Salyavin was no longer an issue, the   
bulletin had said, but Masterson was still missing and considered to be a deadly threat   
due to her knowledge of the Team. Surprisingly enough, the bulletin did not end the   
way so many others had, with an order of execution on sight of the target, but rather   
with the explicit order that Masterson was not to be harmed or alerted to the fact that her   
presence was known. Rather, Giovanni himself was to be informed immediately without   
hesitation.  
  
Loomis sat at his desk in his office with the door locked and reviewed the   
bulletin. He knew what he had to do. Ian reached for the intercom, and told his   
receptionist that he was not to be disturbed for the next half-hour, and to cancel his next   
appointment.  
  
"Sure thing." His receptionist said as she went about canceling and rescheduling   
the appointment, thinking nothing of it at all. One of the beauties of the Green Branch   
was that even the underlings of the agents had no idea of their true nature, in order to   
create a plausible deniability in the event that the Green Branch agent were to ever come   
under suspicion. Loomis double locked the door, and then walked to the far wall of the   
office where a painting depicting a countryside hung. Carefully, Loomis removed the   
painting from the wall, revealing a small glass circle that looked like a peephole and a   
green button. Ian pressed the green button and leaned close to the glass circle as a beam   
of light completed a retinal scan of his left eye. From behind the wall, a computerized   
voice stated flatly, "Identity confirmed. Green Branch Agent Loomis, Ian. Clearance   
confirmed." With that, the wall slid silently open, and Loomis entered the small secret   
room. He approached the control console, and entered the communication codes. After   
a moment and series of muted beeps and computer tones, the large video screen flickered   
to life, displaying an image of a large tree with a big red "R" superimposed over the   
trunk. Then, the communication signal completed its route, and in moments the   
shadowed face of Giovanni appeared on the monitor.  
  
Loomis bowed before the Boss, showing the utmost of respect for his superior.   
Giovanni was now in his 60's, and yet he still possessed every facet of his mental   
abilities and power that had been used to build his mother's empire into his own since he   
was a young man of 16 years. "Agent Loomis. Report." Giovanni stated. As always,   
the leader of Team Rocket was a man of few words when dealing with his underlings.  
  
Loomis looked at the screen nervously, but replied with a calm, even tone.   
"Yes, sir. I have called to report the sighting of escaped Red Rocket Agent Masterson."  
  
Giovanni leaned forward out of the shadows, and Loomis saw that his wrinkled   
face was tight with excitement and anger all at once. "Where?" he demanded simply.  
  
"She has come to me as a patient, sir." Loomis hesitated for a moment before   
finding the nerve to continue. "She is pregnant." Ian finished.  
  
Giovanni's eyes became wide. "Pregnant?" he repeated in disbelief.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"So. Escape isn't all she did with Salyavin, is it? Interesting…" Giovanni's   
eyes looked to the ceiling as he considered this and scratched his chin. "Loomis, unless I   
am mistaken, Agent Masterson should be 49 years of age now. Is that correct?"  
  
"Yes, she is, sir." Loomis replied, unsure as to what his Boss was driving at.  
  
"And in your opinion, could she conceivably successfully carry and deliver this   
baby?" Giovanni asked.  
  
Loomis looked at his Boss with surprise. "Well, she is in good health, but any   
woman over the age of 35 is likely to have a troubled pregnancy, and the odds of   
successfully carrying a baby to term decrease with each year…"  
  
"But could she do it?" Giovanni interrupted.  
  
Loomis scratched the back of his head. "Well, in theory, yeah, with proper care,   
yeah, she could. Might be rough, but she could do it."  
  
Giovanni began to smile darkly. "Sir, she has a return appointment in two weeks.   
Shall I arrange to have a team of Grunts here to grab her?" Loomis asked.  
  
Giovanni didn't reply. He simply sat there like an Armani-clad Cheshire cat,   
stroking his own Persian with an evil grin on his face.  
  
"Sir?" Loomis persisted.   
  
Giovanni returned his attention to Loomis. "Absolutely not. Masterson is a   
trained Red. Even her advanced age would not hinder her escape from a team of Grunts."  
  
"What is to be done then, sir?" Loomis asked.  
  
"How is she paying for your services?" Giovanni replied.  
  
"Government assistance under an assumed name. She was able to forge the   
documentation and get some health care coverage, but I don't see…" Loomis began.  
  
Giovanni interrupted him again. "Excellent. Continue to see her as a patient.   
She is to receive the best care you can give. The baby must survive, and she must not   
become aware of who you really are."  
  
Loomis looked at Giovanni with confusion. "But… why, sir?"  
  
"The child of two Reds... Why the potential alone… not to mention the fact that   
the child is the offspring of Masterson… That child will be mine!" Giovanni said to   
himself in a power-induced daze. Visions of the child being raised as the perfect Rocket   
danced in his mind as Loomis watched the screen with more than a few misgivings.  
  
"Sir, if I may…" he began uneasily.   
  
"What?" Giovanni snapped, annoyed with Loomis' tone.  
  
"Agent Masterson is dangerous. She's a crazy loose end. Shouldn't she just be   
taken care of?"   
  
Giovanni glared at Loomis through the screen. "Are you questioning me?" he   
growled threateningly.   
  
"No, sir. But if she were to discover this plan…" Loomis said shakily.  
  
"She must not find out. That will be your job, Loomis." Ian looked at the   
ground. Giovanni had no idea what he was asking… "You're a Green Branch Rocket.   
You have been trained as a doctor and an operative in one of the most expensive   
experiments ever undertaken by Team Rocket. Now, we have an opportunity to test this   
experiment and gain an incredible asset. You are not allowed to fail." Giovanni finished   
forcefully.  
  
"But, sir, what if she does figure me out somehow?" Ian persisted.   
  
"Then you have terminated your position as a Green Branch rocket… and as a   
living member of the human race." Giovanni finished in a cryptic tone.   
  
Ian gulped, his throat burning with dryness.  
  
"I want that baby, Loomis. I want it alive and well and ready to mold. I will   
expect a report from you in two weeks after Masterson's next visit."  
  
"Understood, sir." Loomis replied humbly.  
  
"I warn you, Loomis, do not fail me. Rarely has so much ridden on one agent."   
The screen went black, and the image of the tree appeared again after a second. Loomis   
switched the console off, and walked back to his office. The door slid silently closed   
behind him, the panel blending with the wall perfectly. "Oh, damn. Damn, damn,   
damn…" he muttered as he reached to the bottom drawer of his desk for the bottle of   
tranquilizers he had been taking since his stressful days at the Resort. He popped the   
bottle open and immediately swallowed two of the small white pills. His stomach was   
full of butterflies, and he was sweating horribly. It had been over 20 years since he had   
encountered Masterson at the Resort, and yet she could still scare the hell out of him,   
even if she hadn't seemed to recognize him during her visit.   
  
Silently, Ian wondered just how he would survive 7 months of seeing her as a   
normal patient, always keeping her training in mind, and always, always being careful   
to never let his true self show to her…  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER TWO: I THINK OF HOME 


	2. Part Two: I Think of Home

PART TWO – I THINK OF HOME  
  
The girl laughed contentedly. It was hard to imagine being happier. In her hands   
she held the best present she could have gotten from her mother for her birthday… it was   
a pokeball! Well, OK, so it wasn't real, but still! How cool was it that she had been   
given this kind of a present at age six??? The girl tossed the red and white toy ball in the   
air, caught it in her hand, and laughed gleefully. All the other girls she knew were still   
playing with their dollies. When they saw her with THIS baby, they'd all know who was   
the top one, the best there ever could be.   
  
"There's more, Annie." Her mother said. "Press the release button!"  
  
Annie's eyes opened wide with adoration as she pressed the button and the ball   
popped open to reveal a small, detailed plastic figure of a Charizard. Annie laughed   
and looked at her smiling mother. "Mommy! I can be the best Pokemon trainer ever   
with this!"  
  
Carrie Kaldron-Masterson looked at her daughter with love and sadly wished her   
father were still alive to see this moment. "Of course you can, Annie. You will always   
be the best. The best daughter, the best trainer, the most special little girl in the   
world!" Carrie told her.  
  
The little girl gave her mother a tight hug and ran outside to the backyard of their   
small cottage. Once outside, she faced the tree at the back of the yard. "You wanna try   
to beat me???" she demanded of the tree. Her opponent stood there silently, its leaves   
rustling from the breeze. "Well, you can't! Nobody can beat me! I am the best trainer   
ever! Go, Charizard!" Annie popped the toy Pokeball open and the figure glared at the   
tree as Annie growled and imitated the sounds of the Pokemon battles she had seen on   
television while Carrie watched from the back door window. Such great things were in   
store for her child… Of this, Carrie was more certain than she had ever been before…   
More certain than she had ever been of anything at all…  
  
Annie stood in the empty old cottage wearing sunglasses and an overcoat. She   
knew it was a risk to get this close to Viridian City, but she hadn't cared. She had to see   
it once again at least, even if she hadn't been there in years. This was the cottage she   
remembered from her childhood, the cottage that had been her home until that day… the   
day when her mother had had the… accident… and her Auntie Raven had come for her.   
Annie crossed the empty, dusty room that had once been their kitchen to the large open   
part of the wall where the back door had hung. The yard had become overrun with weeds   
and crabgrass due to the years of neglect that came with nobody buying the cottage or   
removing it. That tree still stood in the back, it's limbs bare, dried, and twisted.  
  
Annie hadn't wanted to leave this place. She had begged her Auntie Raven to let   
her stay, but Raven had told her it was impossible. Her mother had had an accident, and   
wouldn't be able to take care of her anymore. She had led Annie out of the yard by way   
of the side of the house, not taking her inside, and had led her to the big Jeep with a   
white flag emblazoned with a red R. Raven had then buckled the young girl, barely 6   
and a half years old, into the seat, and climbed in to drive Annie to her new home, the   
large gym in Viridian City. Annie had cried all the way there as Raven tried to calm and   
comfort her, telling her of the great things and adventures that awaited them at their   
destination. It only barely worked, but once the young girl had arrived and seen the   
wonders of this club, this… Team, she had never looked back and had accepted Raven   
and her team mates as mentors. After all, they had wanted what her mother had wanted,   
hadn't they? For her to be the best?  
  
Over the years, Annie slowly learned the truth in bits and pieces… how her   
father had died in a car accident just weeks after learning that her mother was pregnant   
with her, How Carrie had attempted to work despite her pregnancy, how she had been   
forced to turn to illegal work for the dreaded Team Rocket to cover her expenses, acting   
as a spy, a mule, and whatever else the needed. She had learned how her mother's sister   
Raven had joined the Team in an attempt to get the Team away from Carrie and her   
baby, and finally how Carrie, in a desperate attempt to get the Team away from her and   
behind bars where they could do no harm, had betrayed them. That betrayal had called   
for the ultimate punishment, and Raven herself had been tasked with the grisly deed as a   
test of loyalty. After much pleading with her superiors, Raven had been granted   
permission to collect Carrie's daughter to be raised as a Rocket.  
  
Annie was already a Black Rocket when she had finally learned the whole story   
from her Auntie on her deathbed in a Cerulean City hospital. Annie's heart had been   
shattered, but her years of training herself to never show emotion had won through, and   
the 19-year-old Annie had resolved to never return to that cabin, to never resurrect the   
memories of the past so they could torment her. Now, years after the fact, Annie stood   
where her mother had once stood watching her play and held her hand over her stomach.   
She wasn't showing yet, but Annie still felt like everyone could tell her future child was   
indeed in there. "I'm home, Mama." Annie said quietly. The silent emptiness of the   
house surrounded her.  
  
Annie turned away from the back door opening and walked through the large   
open area that was once her family's living room. To her right there was a narrow   
hallway that Annie remembered from her childhood… it was the hallway that had led to   
her room and her mother's room. Annie walked slowly to the hallway, kicking the dead   
leaves that lined the floor out of her way, and walked into the room that had once   
belonged to her mother. In the room stood the one thing that had not been broken down   
and hauled away by the various looters and drifters and vandals that had been through the   
house in the years since Annie had last been there; a rusted bed frame that had once   
belonged to Carrie Kaldron-Masterson. Annie walked slowly but deliberately to the bed   
frame where her mother had slept and dreamed years before.   
  
As Annie kneeled down by the frame, memories of that lost little girl came back   
to her again. Memories of curling up with Mama, memories of laughter, memories of   
love. "Mama?" Annie said in almost a whisper.  
  
"Mama, I'm here. Do you know what's happened? Do you know why I'm here   
now?" Annie asked, almost expecting an answer from the empty house.  
  
"I'm pregnant, Mama. I'm going to have a baby." Annie said softly as she   
looked down at the floor. Quickly, her eyes looked up. "But- but I want you to know   
that I'm going to raise this baby right. I'm going to make sure that this baby has the life   
you wanted for me- a life of freedom, of happiness, a life where she'll never even have   
to know the words Team Rocket." Tears slowly built in the corner of Annie's eyes.   
"Mama, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You gave up everything to protect me from a way of   
life- and I wound up taking that way of life as my own. I accepted it, I embraced it, and   
I never knew anything else- not even when I found out the truth about you."   
  
Annie sniffled and wiped a tear away from her eyes. "But, Mama, I swear to   
you, that won't happen with my child. I'll never let it happen. This baby will be   
everything you always wanted me to be… and more. I promise. I'll never let anything   
hurt this baby, never let anything happen to it." Annie paused and looked down to the   
floor. In a whisper, she stated, "I'll make you proud, Mama."  
  
A warm breeze blew in from the window, caressing Annie's face, and Annie   
could feel the angelic hand of her mother caressing her, letting her know that it would be   
all right, that her mother still loved her and was proud of her, that there was no cause for   
worry. In that instant, Annie felt more at peace than she ever had in all her life. She   
looked up and out the window, and saw the sun high in the mid-day sky. She smiled at   
the blue sky and the fluffy white clouds, and said in a barely audible whisper, "Thank   
you, Mama." Annie stood up and turned to leave, a content smile on her face and   
warmth in her heart. In the doorway to the bedroom, something caught her eye… it was   
a white piece of paper. Annie walked toward it curiously, certain it had not been there   
when she had entered the room.   
  
Annie bent down and picked up the paper. What she saw when she turned it over   
took her breath away. It was a photo of her sitting on her mothers lap, holding the toy   
Pokeball proudly in her hands as she smiled broadly and her mother beamed peacefully at   
her. Annie clutched the photograph tightly to her chest and a tear fell down her cheek as   
she looked back at the room. "Thank you, Mama. Thank you so much." She said softly   
as she turned to leave and walked to the old vehicle she had bought from an old trainer   
who had needed some fast cash three weeks before.  
  
As the old vehicle roared to life and pulled away, carrying its driver back home,   
a pair of shaded eyes watched from a well concealed Jeep hidden in the growth   
surrounding the house. Toby Matthews was a Team Grunt, assigned to this task. Now   
the target was leaving, and it seemed his mission was complete. Toby reached for the   
radio switch, and immediately contacted his superior, who was waiting in Viridian   
anxiously for his report. "Report, Matthews." Giovanni's voice stated over the radio.  
  
"Yes, Sir." Toby replied. "Target entered the cabin as you assumed she would."  
  
"And the picture? Did you plant it?" Giovanni demanded.  
  
Toby sweat dropped nervously. "Yes, sir. In the doorway."  
  
"And did the target collect it?"  
  
"She did, Sir."  
  
"And your presence was not detected?"  
  
"No, Sir. The target did not know I was present."  
  
"Excellent work, Matthews." Giovanni said. "Return to Viridian at once and   
wait for your next assignment. In the meantime, you are to tell nobody of what   
transpired today."  
  
"Yes, Sir." Toby replied. He hesitated a moment before giving voice to his next   
thought. "Sir, I have a question, if I may?"  
  
Giovanni bristled. "What is it, Matthews?"  
  
"Sir, if I am correct from what I know of the bulletins, the target is Agent   
Masterson." Toby said cautiously.  
  
"You are correct." Giovanni said simply.  
  
"Sir, shouldn't we just eliminate the target?"  
  
"DO NOT QUESTION!" Giovanni bellowed, making Toby drop the receiver in   
shock.  
  
"Yes- yes, Sir." Toby replied quickly. "I'm sorry, Sir."  
  
"You are a Grunt, Matthews. Do not forget your place or you will be severely   
punished."  
  
"Yes, Sir. Of course, Sir." Matthews fumbled.  
  
"Good. Return to Viridian at once." Giovanni finished, and the connection was   
broken.  
  
Toby sweated horribly as he replaced the receiver and started his Jeep. Why, oh   
why, did he ever open his big mouth? The Jeep roared away from the cabin, taking the   
opposite direction Annie had taken mere moments before.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THREE – DEMONS OF THE PAST 


	3. Demons of the Past

PART THREE – DEMONS OF THE PAST  
  
"That's really about it, Jan." Ian said as Anne stood up to finish getting dressed   
and leave. Annie had been visiting Ian every two weeks for nearly two months now, and   
the Green Branch agent was finding himself more and more relieved with every visit.   
Masterson was not only handling this pregnancy fairly normally, but she had also shown   
no signs of recognition of Loomis from his days at The Resort.   
  
This was a possibility that had terrified Ian at the beginning- so much so that at   
times he nearly forgot his training as a Green Branch Rocket. He had been constantly   
checking himself- stopping himself from calling Agent Masterson by her real name,   
from mentioning the words "the resort", from referring at all to Team Rocket. However,   
Loomis' fears had turned out to be groundless. He had nothing to fear from Jan Masters,   
as the woman clearly had no recollection of him. Loomis grew more and more relieved   
with each visit as this fact became clearer and clearer to him.   
  
Annie smiled at Ian and shook his hand, then turned to leave. When her hand   
touched the door, however, she hesitated. Annie turned back to Loomis, her face a   
mask of uncertainty. "Ian? Listen, I- I lied. There is something I haven't told you.  
  
"What is it, Jan?" Ian asked, more than a little unsure that he really wanted to   
know.  
  
Annie stepped over to Ian's stool and sat down, her eyes looking to the office   
floor. "Well…" she began, then hesitated.  
  
"Really, Jan, you can tell me anything you like." Ian said in his best   
professional manner.   
  
Annie's eyes met Ian's, then darted back to the floor again as she said quietly,   
"It's just that- well, I'm afraid."  
  
Ian looked at Annie, searching her eyes carefully. "Well, that's understandable,   
you know. I mean, your first baby and all…"  
  
"That's not it." Annie interrupted, offering no further explanation.  
  
Ian looked at her with confusion. "What, then?"  
  
Annie looked to his eyes once again. "Ian, what are the odds of a baby being a   
copy of its parents? I- I mean, are they predisposed to be like their parent, or what?"   
Annie felt foolish even asking, but it was a dread that had been preying on her night and   
day for the past two weeks since her last visit.  
  
Loomis looked at her, correctly sensing what she was fearing her baby would   
become. "Jan, a baby is its own person, just as capable of becoming anything as anyone   
else." He said softly.  
  
Annie's eyes turned to the floor again. "I'm scared, Ian. You see, I-" Annie   
hesitated, hardly able to believe that she was considering telling him what she was about   
to say.  
  
"What, Jan?" Ian persisted.  
  
"I- I haven't always been the most stable of people. In fact, I spent a good part   
of my life in-" Annie paused here. How could she explain to anyone the horror she had   
seen and felt at The Resort? "In a hospital of sorts." She finished curtly.  
  
Ian's throat went dry. He knew exactly what Annie meant by 'hospital'… "a   
hospital? You mean a… psychiatric hospital?" he said softly, choosing his words as   
carefully as he could so as to minimize the possibility of a rush of memory.   
  
Annie silently nodded as she looked at the floor. She had never felt she would be   
able to admit to her time at the Resort, but she was finding Ian strangely easy to relate to,   
whatever the reason.  
  
Sensing her worst fears, Ian put his arm around her, partly in order to comfort   
her and partly in order to attempt to gauge her reactions to him. He knew that if Annie   
was considering drastic measures- such as aborting the pregnancy, there would be hell   
to pay from Giovanni. "Jan…" he began carefully. "There is no evidence that your   
baby would have the same problems you've experienced because of genetics."   
  
Annie looked up to him, finding comfort in his words. "Really?" she asked   
meekly.  
  
"Yes." Ian continued, confident that he was winning her faith and trust   
flawlessly. "All the tests show that your baby is developing the way it should, and your   
symptoms are all on track… everything points to you having a very healthy baby so   
far… and I can tell you now that I don't think your baby will have any problems like   
you're afraid it will."  
  
Annie's face registered an uncertainty. "How can you be sure?" she asked.  
  
Loomis sighed. "Well, truthfully, Jan, I can't. But in my professional opinion,   
I have to say that I know this baby will be all his or her own person. Whatever has   
transpired in your life or your mind before now- Well, it's irrelevant. It makes no   
difference. Your baby will have its own life, and that life will be whatever you choose to   
steer it toward." Ian finished and looked to Annie with apprehension.   
  
Annie smiled softly. "Thank you." She said quietly as she gazed at Ian.   
  
"Anytime." Ian grinned. "Actually, you know, what you've been thinking- it's   
really a normal side effect of pregnancy."  
  
"The uncertainty?" Annie asked, surprised.  
  
"Yes. Along with all the other- ahem- more fun symptoms you've reported."   
Ian said with a chuckle.  
  
Annie glared at him, but her smile didn't fade. "You laugh at my nausea?" she   
accused.  
  
"I wouldn't dream of it, dear." Ian said with a smile.  
Annie's glare disappeared as she stood to leave. "Well, I guess I'll be back in two   
weeks, then." She walked to the door once again, and hesitated. She turned back to   
look at Ian once more as Ian began to get nervous again. Why wouldn't she just go?   
"Thank you." Annie said softly, and opened the door to leave. As she walked out and   
stopped by the receptionist to schedule her next appointment, Loomis retreated to his   
office for the 30-minute block of "recovery" time he always set aside after a Jan Masters   
appointment. Ian collapsed in his chair, downed a tranquilizer, and wondered just who   
this pregnancy was harder on. With a sigh, He turned to the wall and removed the   
painting once again to open the secret door and report back to Giovanni on the progress   
of the pregnancy.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FOUR: JEOPARDY 


	4. Jeopardy

PART FOUR – JEOPARDY  
  
A month and a half later, Loomis was at his desk reviewing the Jan Masters file   
closely, noting the results from the visit the previous day. The habit of checking the   
Masters file every morning had started as a simple cautionary measure to ensure that   
nothing was missed, and had grown into a compulsive need that had to be fulfilled each   
morning to put his mind at ease, even if Ian wasn't due to see Annie for another two   
weeks. All had been well lately… Annie's fear had subsided, and all the tests were   
coming back normal, just as they should have been. The pregnancy could not have been   
going more smoothly at all…  
  
Ian sipped his coffee and turned to yesterday's urine test results. Suddenly, a   
number caught his eye and he choked on his coffee. "What the hell…" he began as he   
stared at the number. "Oh, damn it. Oh, crap… " Immediately, he reached for his   
intercom. "Julia? Cancel my first appointment right away. I have an emergency."   
Loomis didn't even wait for Julia's reply as he grabbed the phone on his desk and dialed   
the number Annie had give them.  
  
In Annie's apartment, the phone rang loudly, waking Annie from a dream of   
holding a beautiful baby girl… Groggily, she grabbed the phone. "Yeah?" she asked   
sleepily.   
  
"Jan? It's Ian Loomis."  
  
"Annie sat up sleepily. "Oh, hi, Ian, what do you need?" she asked, her tired   
mind not imagining why Loomis would call her like this.  
  
"I can't go into it over the phone, but I need you to come in right away." Ian said   
quickly.  
  
"Why?" Annie asked, rubbing her eyes with one hand and holding her upset   
stomach with the other as she cradled the phone on her shoulder.  
  
"Look, I don't want to alarm you, but-" Ian hesitated here- "there's a problem   
with the baby."  
  
Annie bolted out of bed and began to throw on clothes as fast as her nausea-  
wracked body would allow. "I'll be there in ten minutes." Annie said curtly as she   
slammed the phone down. All her morning sickness was pushed aside as Annie grabbed   
an outfit from her closet, her eyes briefly focusing on the red Team Rocket dress hanging   
in the corner. She scoffed at the dress as she thought about what she had considered to be   
so important for so much of her life.   
  
Three minutes later, she was in her car, pushing the engine to its limits as she   
tore away to Loomis' office.  
  
"Diabetes?" Annie said incredulously. "But- I've never had diabetes, and   
neither has anyone in my family-" Annie stopped and silently thought to herself,   
Family? Hah. The only family I knew was Auntie Raven and Mama- and I never even   
knew them as well as I should have.  
  
"Gestational diabetes." Loomis corrected her. "Actually, it's not all that   
uncommon, particularly in older pregnancies, nor is it really a big danger, but we have   
to get it under control right away, or it can become a problem."  
  
"So the baby will be diabetic?" Annie asked with a tear in her eye.  
  
"Not likely." Ian replied. "You are now, but most likely neither of you will be   
after the baby is born." Ian paused and looked at how badly Annie was shaken. "I'm   
sorry, Jan. I didn't mean to scare you this bad. It's just that we need to get this under   
control as fast as we can."  
  
"I understand." Annie said quietly. "So how do we control it?"  
  
"Medicine and diet." Ian replied, scribbling notes on a prescription pad. "Now,   
go get this filled right away, and follow the directions the pharmacist will give you."  
  
Annie looked at Ian with sad eyes. "Ian…" she began.  
  
"Yes?" Ian replied.  
  
"I don't think I can do this. I don't think I can finish this pregnancy out." Annie   
said softly.  
  
Ian's stomach churned in a fit of fear. "I mean- it's just so hard…" Annie said   
with a sniffle. God, this was so unlike her! What had happened to the Agent who had   
once stood defiantly in the face of all opposition and spat at it? What happened to that   
strong, terrifying person? It had taken a child to break her- a mere child. Annie looked   
at herself with her mind's eye and suddenly realized that this unborn child had   
incapacitated her more than James Morgan ever had… and yet there was absolutely no   
resentment this time.  
  
Loomis' trained mind searched for the answer. The baby could not be lost. "I   
know. I know." He said softly, rubbing her back through her sweater. "Jan, I can't tell   
you it'll get easier… All I can say is that it'll be worth it. I promise." It was all Loomis   
could do to tell Annie that lie. Every day he had more and more misgivings about this   
whole project, but Ian also knew the choices he had, and they were severely limited.   
Silently, he wondered why he had ever signed on for the Green Branch. It was a much   
harder life than he had ever anticipated…  
  
As Loomis reviewed his own dilemmas, Annie's mind reviewed her situation.   
This was what she had always wanted without knowing… the chance to become a   
mother, the chance to redeem herself in the eyes of her own mother, to set right for   
another soul the mistakes she had made with her life, to save somebody from the life she   
had experienced… and yet it was all so hard. The pain, the sickness, now the diabetes.   
Could it all ever be worth it?  
  
Ian watched Annie hang her head down silently as he continued to rub her back.   
It was out of his hands now, it seemed… There was probably little to be done to stop her   
if she did decide to abort.  
  
Annie squeezed her eyes shut tightly. At that moment, she was thinking harder   
than she ever had before… harder than she had in all of her years in the Team. Slowly,   
warmth began to pass through her, beginning at her back where Ian was rubbing. She   
hardly noticed it at first, but when the warmth passed through her stomach and into her   
arms, she could not deny it. The warm feeling spread through out her completely, and   
when Annie opened her eyes, She did not see Ian's office. Instead, she only saw a   
bright light, as if she was staring at the sun. The light, while undeniably blessedly   
bright, did not hurt her eyes in the slightest, and Annie watched it with fascination as   
Loomis watched her stare ahead somewhat blankly with confusion.   
  
Seemingly from the light itself, Annie heard the quiet whisper of Carrie Kaldron-  
Masterson… Annie… Annette… I love you and I'm watching. You want this baby. I   
know you do. And I know you'll be a wonderful mother. But you must be careful… so   
careful… With that, the light slowly faded away, and the warmth flowed out of Annie's   
body as she smiled. Her mother had been there when she had needed her the most yet   
again, but what had her last words meant? Be careful? Be careful of what?  
  
Slowly, Annie stood up from the stool she had been sitting on.   
  
Ian looked at her as she stepped forward without saying a word, as if she was in a   
trance. "Jan?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.  
  
Annie turned to face him, her face seeming to say that she had just now   
remembered Ian was even present. "Hmm? What?" she asked in a light tone.  
  
"Are you all right?" Ian asked her cautiously.   
  
Annie looked at Ian with half-closed eyes. "Yes… Yes, I think I am." She said   
softly. "I- I just need to be careful…" Annie took a few more steps toward the door, and   
then turned to look at Ian again, stopping to stare at him strangely.  
  
Inside, Ian panicked, certain that Masterson had some in way, somehow learned   
the truth. It was a panic that only half subsided when Annie held up the prescription   
slowly. "I'll get this filled right away, of course. See you in 2 weeks." She said   
distractedly. With that, Annie turned and left slowly and numbly, still dazed from her   
contact with her mother.  
  
As soon as the woman was gone, Loomis made a fast beeline for is office,   
sweating horribly. He double-locked the door and threw his desk drawer open so hard he   
pulled it right off its track. He didn't care in the least as the contents spilled all over the   
floor. With trembling hands, Loomis snatched up the amber vial holding his   
tranquilizers, popped the cap off, and immediately had two in his mouth and down his   
throat. Ian reached to one of the few items left in the drawer, a silver flask, and chased   
the tranquilizers with a shot of whiskey. As a doctor, Ian knew the dangers of mixing   
alcohol with a drug, but he couldn't have cared less at this point. He needed it. He   
needed it now more badly than he had in years, more badly than he ever had since the   
days of… that place.  
  
Shuddering, Loomis marched to the wall and dutifully opened the hidden door   
once again to report to Giovanni.  
  
Giovanni scowled at Ian. He had listened to the report with concern, which had   
turned to disgust. "So, Annie's getting unstable and moody, and you're sitting there   
popping pills?" Giovanni snarled.  
  
"Sir, please-" Ian stammered. "I- I was afraid she might have recognized me. I   
think she's all right for the rest of the pregnancy."   
  
Giovanni' eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at Ian through the monitor. "You   
think?" he snapped. "I want you to know!"  
  
Ian bowed his head. "Yes, Sir." He said quietly.   
  
"You realize, Loomis, that your training surpasses that of Masterson's."   
Giovanni said.  
  
"Yes, Sir."   
  
"Therefore, you are technically superior to her."   
  
"Yes, Sir." Ian repeated.  
  
"And yet a crazy former Red who was actually committed is rattling you!"   
Giovanni roared.   
  
"Sir, please…" Ian began.  
  
"Silence! I expect perfection from you, Loomis, and you will deliver- or you'll   
find yourself back at the Resort!"  
  
"I'd be an orderly again?" Ian asked softly.  
  
"No." Giovanni said darkly. "You'll be an inmate."  
  
Ian trembled. "I understand, sir." He said shakily.  
  
"You had damned well better." Giovanni snarled. "Masterson is becoming more   
and more unstable. She's becoming unreliable. How soon could the baby be born and   
live?"  
  
Loomis mopped his brow and looked at Giovanni. "Er… well, after half way   
through the seventh month, the odds of a baby surviving are excellent."   
  
"And she is five and a half months along now." Giovanni stated.  
  
"Yes, sir." Loomis replied.  
  
Giovanni looked at him. "Loomis, I want that baby out as soon as possible and   
in my hands. I don't care how you do it, just do it! Understand?"  
  
"Yes, Sir." Loomis cowered. "And… what about Masterson after that?"  
  
Giovanni smiled darkly. "Leave her to me. I will see to it that she is well taken   
care of." He said menacingly.  
  
Loomis bowed his head again. "I understand." He said quietly. The screen   
flickered, and the Green Branch emblem appeared once again. Loomis shuffled back to   
his desk and sat down as he opened Annie's file once again. This project was monstrous.   
He was helping to steal a baby- an innocent child- and all the time he was deceiving the   
mother like it was nothing.   
  
Ian's conscience- an aspect almost obliterated from him during his Green Branch   
indoctrination - was eating away at him slowly, although Loomis knew he was worlds   
away from having a choice about any of this. When it all came down to the wire, he had   
a choice between his life or Masterson's- and to that question there could be but one   
answer for Ian Loomis. Silently, he scribbled down notes of tests to give Annie at their   
next meeting- tests that were not standard, but that might provide the excuse for getting   
that baby out as soon as possible.   
  
Suddenly, the pencil fell, and Ian looked at his two hands with a strange   
fascination. These were the hands that had been trained to help people- and they were   
now being used to harm. Of course, this was nothing new to Loomis, but the feelings   
accompanying the action certainly were. Slowly, his palms came down to rest on the   
desk. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he saw before him a   
hallway lined with steel doors. Each door had a small barred window, and Loomis could   
hear sounds from behind each one- screams of pain, sobbing, pleas for mercy, and the   
insistent cackle of the persons torturing the occupants of each room. Loomis' stomach   
churned as he peeked through one window and saw a former Black Rocket strapped to a   
table as another man in a white coat zapped him repeatedly with a taser, unaffected by   
the Rocket's pleading. Sickened to the point of nausea, Loomis spun around and saw   
through another window a former White Rocket sobbing as she was stripped of her   
uniform and thrown onto her cot by a doctor who chuckled as he undid his belt and   
walked toward her. Loomis felt the bile rise in his throat as he turned away from the   
window and ran as fast as he could. Hitting a dead end at the end of the hallway, he   
looked up to the steel door that he had crashed into and saw the nameplate: "Inmate   
number 761852c-Green Branch Rocket Ian Loomis". Ian snapped his eyes open before   
his mind could hear the sound of his own screams from behind the door.  
He was panting horribly, and his eyes were wide open with fear. The Resort. He   
remembered it from his nightmares. He could not go back. He would not go back.   
Masterson, conscience, fair play- damn them all. The baby would be Giovanni's, and   
Ian would stay free. It was the only way. Shakily, Ian gulped down another shot of the   
amber liquor from his flask, and choked as he swallowed it down. The Green Branch   
Rocket sat there in his chair, trembling and rocking back and forth in chair as he   
whispered to himself repeatedly, "It's the only way, the only way, the only way…"  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FIVE: IN DISTRESS 


	5. In Distress

PART FIVE – IN DISTRESS  
  
Annie sat on the table in Loomis' office patiently, waiting for the doctor to   
return with the latest test results. She could hardly believe that she had really been   
carrying her baby for seven months! It was simply unbelievable to her. Ian had been   
right about the change in her feelings… With every day and in every way, Annie knew   
for certain that she wanted this. She wanted this baby inside of her, this small version of   
her that would soon be her own beloved child.   
  
It hadn't been an easy month after she had discovered the gestational diabetes…   
in fact, it had been hell. She had had to restrict her diet, begin the regiment of medicine,   
keep up on everything she could… and yet she didn't seem to mind any of it. The   
worries and the fears she had held at one time were gone, and had been replaced by a   
bursting pride and happiness at the thought of actually doing what she had never thought   
she would do. Motherhood was hers to embrace and love, and Annie was relishing every   
last second of it. As she continued to wait, Annie placed her hand on her round belly   
and smiled contentedly.  
  
Meanwhile, Ian looked at the latest test results and smiled. He had found it…   
the excuse he needed to get the baby out. Masterson seemed to have become stable   
enough, but he wanted this over with as soon as possible. The test results were the key,   
for they revealed the existence of a condition. Like the gestational diabetes, it was a   
problem that could be serious but probably wouldn't be. Loomis, however, had plans for   
this little result… he would over-build its importance, and then let it fester for a couple   
weeks. The two weeks were purely insurance to ensure that the baby would be matured   
enough to be stable… not to mention a psychological strike against Masterson. As   
Loomis walked back to the examination room, he again felt a pang of his conscience.   
With a quick thought of The Resort, he shook it off before it could affect him.  
  
He entered the room to see Annie from behind, humming softly to herself. "Jan,   
I'm afraid I have some bad news." He said seriously, his tone hiding his relief at finding   
the answer.  
  
Annie opened her eyes and looked to Ian, her calm smile fading at the sight of   
Ian's grim expression. "What is it, Ian?" Annie asked quietly.  
  
Ian's eyes met hers, and he cleared his throat. "Jan, we have a problem. A   
serious problem."  
  
Annie's mind reeled back to the last time she had heard Ian utter those words… It   
had been the same day the diabetes had come out. What was happening now? Hadn't   
that been enough? Suddenly, her eyes lost the happy glow they had held for the past   
weeks, and regained the tired, desperate look she had known in her darkest hours of   
self-doubt.   
  
Ian said quietly, "Jan, the placenta is calcifying." Of course, Ian knew that the   
problem wasn't as threatening as he would make it seem, but he also knew one other   
thing… that an out was an out and that was all there was to it.   
  
"What does that mean?" Annie asked in a whisper.  
  
"Well, it means that the placenta is drying out and hardening inside of you. The   
baby isn't able to get all the nutrients it needs."  
  
Annie looked down to her belly forlornly and imagined the baby inside starving to   
death. He hands softly caressed the round bulge. "Why is it happening?" she asked,   
wondering what she could have done to make this happen to her baby.  
  
Sensing her feelings of guilt, Ian's tender side kicked in. "Nothing you did   
caused it, Jan. It just happens sometimes, especially in older pregnancies."  
  
"And what is to be done? Meds? Diet?" Annie asked, her eyes and hands still   
stuck on her belly.   
  
Ian took a deep breath. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Jan." he replied.  
  
Still, Annie's eyes never left her belly. "What, then?"  
  
"You must have the baby as soon as possible." Ian said, his eyes avoiding her,   
lest the former agent detect his true motives.  
  
Annie looked up. "At seven months? But isn't that risky?" she asked with   
concern.  
  
"The placenta will hold for another couple weeks at least. That would put you at   
about seven and a half months. Babies born after that point have an excellent chance of   
survival." Ian paused, waiting for a reaction, but there was none to come. "We can get   
you into the hospital then and the baby can be born. We can set it up today, in fact." Ian   
finished, and looked at Annie, who was solemnly caressing her stomach.   
  
"You'll induce labor?" Annie asked quietly.  
  
Ian grimaced. "Actually, the pressure at this age from labor could conceivably   
hurt the baby. A Caesarian Section would be more the way to go. We'd deliver the baby   
that way, and you could be up and out within a few days, assuming there are no   
complications." Again, a half-truth. While damage to the baby from labor was not   
impossible, it was unlikely… but stealing the baby would be much easier if Masterson   
was unconscious when it was born.   
  
Annie nodded. "Two weeks, then?" she asked. Ian nodded, and stuck his head   
out the door to tell his receptionist to set it up.   
  
When he turned back to her, Annie was smiling strangely. "Everything all right,   
Jan?" Ian asked cautiously.  
  
"I'm going to be a mommy." Annie whispered in awe.  
  
Ian smiled and nodded, confirming that Annie was indeed close to the moment   
she had been craving for months.  
  
An hour later, Loomis was again in the secret communications room, talking   
with his employer on the secure frequency. "Two weeks to the day, sir. That's when the   
baby will be born by C-section."  
  
Giovanni smiled coldly. "Will it need an incubator or anything?" he asked.   
  
"Possibly for a day or two. The baby should be strong enough to survive,   
considering the excellent care Masterson has been giving and getting." Loomis said with   
a small sense of pride. "It's nothing that can't be rigged up at Team HQ, sir."  
  
"Excellent. Come set one up next week." Giovanni said.  
  
"Yes, sir." Ian replied with a bow.   
  
"You have done a fabulous job, Loomis. You are to be commended."  
  
"Thank you, sir." Ian replied uneasily.  
  
"I will be at the hospital in two weeks to take possession. I want that baby as   
soon as humanly possible, do you understand?"  
  
"Of course, sir." Ian answered immediately. "And uhm- what of Agent   
Masterson?"  
  
"Leave her to me. Your involvement with her will end that day." Giovanni said   
firmly.  
  
"Understood, sir." Ian said.   
  
"Good. Success in all endeavors, Loomis." Giovanni said as the screen went   
black and the Green Branch insignia appeared again.  
Ian mopped his brow and began to gather the supplies for an the incubator he was to set   
up over the next week.  
  
TO BE CONIUED IN PART SIX: THE THIEVES OF LIFE 


	6. The Thieves of Life

PART SIX – THE THIEVES OF LIFE  
  
The next two weeks were a blur for all concerned, and it hardly seemed like it   
had been two days since her last visit with Loomis when Annie found herself in a hospital   
gown, laying on a gurney in a private room, where she was being prepped for her   
surgery. Ian had to admit, Giovanni was taking no chances with this operation. All of   
his team were Rockets, some being Red Rockets specially trained to assist Loomis with   
this mission and another Green Branch Rocket named Jason Calhoun who had been   
trained as a doctor with Ian. At the moment, an operating room was being carefully   
prepared and guarded by the Reds as Ian and Jason prepared Annie. Ian had introduced   
Jason as another doctor who would be assisting, and Annie had suspected nothing of the   
sudden addition of the second doctor.  
  
Before long, Annie was watching the lights in the ceiling roll by as the gurney   
was wheeled into the operating room. Annie looked around uneasily, and found five   
other people, all dressed in identical green surgical scrubs, lined around the room. If   
only Annie had realized that under each scrub was a Red Rocket in uniform…  
  
Jason motioned for one of the people to come over, and sit on a stool by Annie's   
head. "Ms. Masters, this is Laura Cummings. She'll be your anesthesiologist." Annie   
nodded.  
  
Behind her mask, Laura smiled coldly. So this was the legendary Masterson.   
With a nod from Loomis, Laura reached over and placed the mask tightly over Annie's   
face. "Breathe and count back from ten." Laura said in a strangely familiar commanding   
tone. Annie barely noticed as she tasted the gas and her eyes slowly closed.  
  
Moments later, another man in surgical scrubs appeared in the OR to supervise.   
Under their Leader's watchful eye, Jason and Ian set the procedure in motion. The team   
worked virtually in silence as they went about their task, the heart monitor on Masterson   
and the baby eerily beeping.  
  
Blackness. Dark, swirling blackness was all Annie could see. She couldn't feel   
much else. Slowly, so slowly she thought she might go insane, miniscule pinpricks of   
light began to appear, then grow in their size and intensity. Annie groggily opened her   
eyes. It had been seven hours since Red Rocket Laura Cummings had placed the mask   
over her face, and she was laying in the recovery room. Loomis was sitting in a chair by   
her bedside, staring at her intently. "Ian?" Annie asked, She felt like she was drunk,   
but the sight of Ian gave her hope. "How did it go? Is everything all right?"  
  
Ian grimaced. "I'm afraid not, Jan. Your baby…" Ian's voice trailed off into   
silence as Annie dizzily tried to sit up, clutching the side rails of the bed tightly for   
support.  
  
"What? What's wrong with my baby?!" Annie demanded, her voice rising to a   
frantic pitch.  
  
Ian lowered his head. "I'm so sorry, Jan. The calcification of the placenta had   
caused too much nutrient loss and your baby… didn't make it." He said softly.  
  
Annie opened her eyes wide. "My baby's dead?" she whispered.  
  
"Stillborn. I'm so sorry, Jan." Ian said again, playing his part to the hilt.   
  
Tears welled up in Annie's eyes. "Oh, God…. Mama! I lost my baby! I never   
even saw my baby!" All the wooziness of the anesthetic was gone as her body was   
wracked by sobs caused by absolute clarity. Annie raised her tear-streaked face to look at   
Ian. "Was- was it a boy or a girl?" she asked tearfully.  
  
Ian looked at her with a twinge of conscience. Damn Masterson for making this   
so impossible. "A girl." He replied.  
  
Annie looked at Ian, her chest heaving with her sobs. "Can I see her? I mean-   
can I at least hold her before she's gone forever?" she asked humbly.  
  
Ian had been prepared for this instance. Giovanni, Jason, and the Reds had   
whisked Annie's true baby away nearly five hours earlier, but Ian had located the baby   
girl of another couple that had been stillborn. Sadly, this kind of thing happened   
everyday, and Ian had known finding a substitute for the baby would not be impossible.   
"Certainly." Ian said quietly. "I'll get her for you."  
  
Ian Loomis walked out Annie's room and trudged to the pediatric morgue to   
collect the baby he had selected. Truly, this was a ghastly business, and yet it was one   
that could not be avoided. Upon entering the morgue, he told the attendant that the   
parents of the baby wished to hold their stillborn baby once more. The attendant   
somberly handed the small corpse to Ian, and he carried it back to Annie's room   
nervously.  
  
Annie's tears fell ever so steadily as she looked at the tiny girl in her arms. "I'm   
so sorry, little one." She whispered as she stared sadly at another woman's child. "I   
wanted to give you everything, believe me. Please… please just be at peace wherever   
you are." Unable to stand it one second longer, Annie passed the baby back to Ian and   
looked away. "What will happen to her?" she asked shakily, unable to face the corpse   
Ian was holding.   
  
Again, Ian's response was prepared. "You can arrange for her burial or sign her   
over to the hospital, and they'll take care of the burial." Ian paused. "Jan…" he began   
softly, "I would recommend that you sign her over to the hospital. When this kind of   
thing happens, your dwelling on it can only make it harder."   
  
Numbly, Annie nodded just as Ian had expected her to. He had known that the   
drugs would muddle her thinking and make her more open to suggestion. "I'll get you   
the forms, then." He said quietly. Ian exited the room, returned the baby to the morgue   
before it was missed, and then gathered the forms for Anne to sign to make her think the   
matter was closed. Of course, they were for her benefit only, of no use to anyone else.  
  
Ten minutes later, the forms were signed and Ian had left Annie with the promise   
that she would be well enough to be released in three days time. Ian had left the orders   
with the nurses for her release time, knowing that Annie would return to her home where   
a pair of Rocket assassins would be awaiting her arrival. They would be arriving there   
tonight, and would be waiting for their target patiently. They would eliminate her   
brutally, and this whole rotten deal would be over. Ian climbed into his car downstairs   
and got ready for the drive to Headquarters, where Giovanni was expecting him to   
ensure all was well with the baby. Suddenly, he saw his reflection in the rear view   
mirror, and he broke down.   
  
"You really did it, didn't you?" he asked the image in the mirror. There was no   
reply. "Smooth and slick as a Green Branch Rocket should be, right?" Again, silence   
greeted Ian Loomis. Sighing, he started the car and drove away. "Tomorrow it'll all be   
over, Ian." He told himself, desperate to end his guilt. But not forgotten, Ian's mind   
shot back. Cutting the wheel sharply, Ian pulled off the road and into the parking lot of a   
small park. His trembling hand reached for the glove compartment. With a quick   
motion, the door flipped open and Ian reached for the amber vial of tranquilizers. His   
hand brushed against something else in the glove compartment, and Ian's mind identified   
the object immediately. A strange sense of calm and peace swept over Ian as his fingers   
closed around the object and pulled it out. "No more. They can find another ghoul for   
hire." Ian Loomis said firmly as he raised his Team-Rocket-issued .45 automatic to the   
underside of his jaw. Those were the last words ever spoken by Dr. Ian Loomis, M.D.,   
Green Branch Rocket.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART SEVEN: REVELATION 


	7. Revelation

PART SEVEN – REVELATION  
  
Dark, ominous clouds hung in the sky, blocking the sun from sending any rays   
of light and hope down. A cold wind blew past Annie, flapping her coat around her and   
her hair in her face as she walked numbly to her car. It had been three days since she   
had lost her child, and despite her depression, Annie's body felt… well, almost normal.   
Of course, the round swell of pregnancy was gone, and Annie's hand still routinely   
reached to pat the belly she no longer had. This only served to deepen her depression and   
sense of loss. A loud thunderclap sounded and a rain began to fall as Annie reached her   
car and climbed in, barely noticing the darkening clouds and the fat raindrops that were   
now steadily assaulting the roof of the car.   
  
The engine roared to life an Annie's tears began to fall and she pumped the gas,   
desperate to leave this place behind, this building that would now forevermore remind   
her of the family she had lost before she had even had it.   
  
Annie could hardly tell if it was the rain or her tears that obscured her vision and   
blocked her view of the road. It had been a hellish 3 days laying in that hospital, the   
nurses (who believed that her child had died and that the body had already been cremated   
in accordance with the mother's wishes) constantly pestering her to eat so that she could   
regain her strength. Why? She had wondered to herself. Just what the hell was the   
damned point, anyway? What is there to live for? Hospital grief counselors had tried to   
talk to her, But Annie was having absolutely none of it. Her world was over as far as she   
was concerned, and that's all there was to it. Finally, she had been told that she was   
well enough to be discharged, and it had been the first news to give her comfort. Maybe,   
just maybe, going home would help. Now, however, the only thought that ran through   
Annie's mind was that the raindrops from the sky were not rain at all, but the tears of her   
own mother and her child. Oh, my baby… I'm so sorry… Mama… I… failed. I failed!   
Failed. That word had meant her downfall before, when James Morgan had made her   
fail twice over 25 years ago. Now, she had failed all on her own… at motherhood, at   
life, at innocence, at… everything. The car lurched unsteadily onward with its unstable   
driver, and finally arrived at its destination. The twenty-minute drive had felt like an   
eternity, an eternity spent in her own private purgatory, light years away from the   
happiness of Heaven or even the torturous release of Hell. The rain soaked her hair and   
flattened it against her head as she trudged to the door, leaving her bag in the car.  
  
I suppose it's only my just ending, Annie thought to herself. After the life I've   
led, the pain I've caused… the people I've hurt and killed… why would I even deserve a   
child? She silently asked herself as her lips quivered and she turned the key in the door.   
The image of the silver .45 in her bedroom burned in her mind, her instinct telling her   
that maybe it was the only option anymore… the only way out being to turn the deadly   
weapon on herself…   
  
Her head hung, Annie entered her home and turned to face the door to turn the   
deadbolt lock into place when she heard the sound- a quiet, almost imperceptible click   
of a gun being cocked. Annie's eyes went wide as she turned and saw a male Rocket,   
one Li Crandall, standing there grinning at her. His uniform indicated that he was an   
assassin, and there was no doubt who his target was. Behind him on Annie's couch, his   
partner sat. She was obviously the assassin's twin sister, and she wore a matching   
uniform. Her gun rested comfortably in her lap, it's casual placement contradicting it's   
deadly ability.  
  
"Greetings, Agent Masterson." The man growled.  
  
Annie glared at him half-heartedly, noticing the resemblance in manner and   
appearance to her former protégés, Butch Crandall and Cassidy Parker. "Go ahead. Get   
on with it." Annie whispered.  
  
Li looked at her, somewhat disappointed. He had been expecting more from his   
target. "Go ahead?" he repeated, confused.  
  
"Do it. Kill me. You'd be doing me a favor." Annie said softly, staring down   
the deadly bore of Li's .45 automatic.   
  
Li's eyes narrowed as he looked contemptuously at his unflinching target. His   
mouth broke into a cruel sneer. "Really." He taunted.  
  
Annie stood before the assassin like stone.  
  
Virginia's voice broke the silence with an icy tone. "Yeah, I suppose we would   
be at that, Li. After all…" The blonde rose and sauntered casually to her brother's side,   
her gun returning to its holster as she approached. "... it must be just so hard to lose your   
baby." Virginia finished cruelly.  
  
Annie's face showed her surprise. "Wha- what? How the hell could you…"  
  
Li smirked. "What? You really thought the Team didn't know about you or your   
baby? You really are pathetic, Masterson. A hopeless relic from the past." Li moved   
his .45 to a half-inch from Annie's face as a single tear fell down her cheek. "What do   
you think, sis? Should she know?"   
  
Virginia folded her arms across her chest smugly. "Why not? Go ahead, give the   
bitch something to take to the grave with her."  
  
Li's face held a perverse glee as he spoke. "You're right. Why don'tcha try this   
one on for size, Masterson?" Now Li's voice dropped to a barely-audible whisper.   
"Your baby's not dead."  
  
What happened next would not be fully understood by anyone, ever. Perhaps   
Annie was able to channel that legendary energy that enables mothers to lift cars off of   
their children, perhaps the spirit of Carrie Koldron-Masterson entered her, perhaps her   
mind simply flashed back to the days of missions and Base Camp Delta… but whatever   
it was that actually happened, the result was truly a sight to see. Somehow, Annie   
fought through her physical pain and her depression, and gave a deep, blood-curdling   
yell. Before anyone knew what was happening, Annie's foot had connected with Li's   
groin with sickening force. Li gasped as his eyes went wide and he fell to the ground,   
his .45 slipping out of his grip and landing harmlessly on the floor. Annie swept it up in   
an instant and shoved Virginia out of the way as she ran to her bedroom.   
  
"Shoot her! Kill her!" Li said hoarsely as he curled in a ball on the floor, tears   
streaming down his face. Virginia's assassin instincts took over as she drew both her   
.45's and fired at Annie's retreating form. The bullets tore into the frame of Annie's   
bedroom door, splintering the molding and missing their intended target by mere inches.   
  
In the bedroom, Annie threw her bedside table drawer open and pulled out her   
own old Team-issued .45 and the spare clip of bullets. Ever since she had left Jessie and   
James' cabin that night months ago, she had kept the weapon cleaned, maintained, and   
close by, dreading the day when the Team would come for her. It had been a precaution   
that had become strict habit when she had learned of her pregnancy. Annie now clutched   
her gun and Li's tightly as she backed up against the bedroom wall by the door and   
listened to Virginia's low, threatening voice as she slowly approached the bedroom.   
"C'mon out, you little bitch… It won't be so bad…" Virginia's voice was like pure   
acid, a tone she herself had used many times in the past. Suddenly, Annie felt a great   
swell of pity for every target she had ever hunted. Sweat drops appeared in little beads   
on Annie's forehead as she saw the twin pistols enter the doorway, followed by   
Virginia's cold, stony face. The assassin's eyes stared straight ahead, a fatal mistake   
which ensured that Virginia never saw Annie coming as she plowed into her side and   
knocked her into the dresser.  
  
Annie ran back through the door to her living room, dropping into a crouch and   
rolling to where Li lay on the floor, still stunned and in a fetal position. Virginia aimed   
her guns at Annie as the Red Rocket sat up and pressed her own gun against Li's head.   
Li whimpered as Annie pressed it home with enough pressure to leave a bruise. "Drop   
it." She snarled at Virginia.  
"Not a fuckin' chance." Virginia replied evenly, her guns trained closely on her   
target.   
  
"You know, I'd be willing to bet that even if you shot me, I'd STILL be able to   
pull my trigger and blow your sorry brother straight to Hell! You really wanna take that   
chance… Sis?" Annie finished in vicious, wild tone.  
  
Virginia stared at her as Li kept whimpering in a panic. "Ginny… do as she says,   
dammit!" the assassin managed to say.  
  
After a moment's hesitation, Virginia growled and dropped her guns to the floor.   
"Kick them over." Annie commanded. Virginia grudgingly complied with the order.  
  
Annie's face tightened as she straddled Li, still keeping her gun firmly pressed   
against his temple. "I saw my baby dead. I held her body. What do you mean she's   
alive?" She asked as calmly as she could, her deliberate speech hiding the burning rage   
that boiled inside her.  
  
"That wasn't really your baby. It was somebody else's baby who happened to die   
that day." Virginia replied.  
  
"Then where's my baby?" Annie asked through clenched teeth.  
  
"I don't know." Virginia lied. Annie saw through it instantly. She moved her   
gun from Li's head and pressed it against he left upper leg. A millisecond later, her   
finger squeezed tightly around the trigger and a bullet ripped into Li's leg. The trapped   
assassin screamed in a guttural croak reminiscent of his father.  
  
"Where's my baby?!" Annie demanded, watching Virginia's eyes widen as dark   
red blood spurted from Li's wound.  
  
"I- I can't…" Virginia stammered, then fell silent as Annie's .45 drove another   
bullet through Li's other leg.   
  
"Last chance, Blondie." Annie growled. "Unless you want a dead boy for a   
brother, you'll tell me!"   
  
Virginia's front shattered. "The Boss has her!" She yelled, tears streaking her   
face. "He wanted to take her, raise her himself!"  
  
"How did he take her?" Annie yelled, burning with a fury that made every   
emotion she had ever felt pale in comparison.   
  
"Ian Loomis." Virginia said desperately.  
  
"Ian?" Annie asked, confused. "You threatened him?"  
  
"He was on our side from day one. He's a Rocket!"  
  
Annie's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in hate. She raised her gun from   
Li's head and fired at Virginia, catching the Assassin in her shoulder and spinning her   
around before she fell to the ground, clutching her bleeding wound. Li gasped and   
entered shock as Annie stepped to where his sister lay on the floor. Without hesitation,   
Annie leveled her weapon at Virginia's head as the blonde squeezed her eyes shut tightly   
and waited for the death she had been sent to deliver to Masterson.  
No, Annie thought. It can't happen like this. Not anymore. Annie reached for the small   
communicator on Virginia's belt, and pressed it into the assassin's hand. "Here. Call for   
help. You two losers need it." She said icily as Virginia looked up at her from the floor   
with humility. Annie swept up one of Virginia's guns from the floor and slipped it into   
her left pocket. Li's gun sat in her right pocket. With a final sneer to Virginia, Annie ran   
out the door of her home and into the rain outside as Virginia made the call for help. Ten   
seconds later, Virginia heard the engine on Annie's car roar to life as the Red tore away   
in the direction of Viridian City, home of Team Rocket's central headquarters, and now,   
of her baby.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART EIGHT: THE TEACHER AND THE STUDENTS 


	8. The Teacher & The Students

PART EIGHT - THE TEACHER AND THE STUDENTS  
  
Annie sped through the rain, her earlier depression replaced by unbridled, white-  
hot rage. The team had done this. Giovanni, the lying, suave killer. Loomis, whom she   
had trusted with so much of her health and soul, had been nothing more than his little   
stooge. Probably everyone at the delivery had been on Giovanni's payroll. The mere   
thought of those monsters, who she would have once fought beside and called comrades,   
being in there with her at her most vulnerable, sickened her to the point of nausea.  
  
Annie's hands gripped the wheel tightly as she approached the limits of Viridian   
City, and realized the information she had tortured out of the assassins wasn't really all   
that valuable. Her baby, as well as her reason to live and to fight, had been restored,   
resurrected in a way, and yet she was alone in this fight. With a sigh, she pulled into the   
parking lot of the large Viridian City Public Library and sat there to think. It had been a   
truly stupid move, shooting Virginia and not finishing her off… now the Team would   
surely be hot on her heels, itching for payback. In frustration, Annie banged her   
forehead on the steering wheel. That was when the idea struck her… Of course! Her old   
trainees! Her old students… No matter what else had passed, Rocket Trainees were   
forever sworn to be loyal to their mentors, their superiors, even if they eventually   
surpassed them in rank. It was a tradition dating back before Annie, before Raven, even   
before Giovanni himself. They would still be hers. Annie was sure of it. After all,   
Annie had been the one to make them what they were, and they were forever indebted to   
her for it…  
  
Exhilarated by her burst of inspiration, Annie ran into the library eagerly, and   
walked immediately to the nearest computer terminal with Internet access. Annie looked   
around cautiously, but nobody was paying any attention to her as she reached to the   
keyboard and began rapidly typing. Annie's fingers flew over the keyboard as she used   
the computer's modem to access the Team's database, using access codes she had stolen   
from Severin's apartment the morning after that night. Annie held her breath as she   
entered each one, fearing that the access codes had been changed. Fortunately, the   
missing codes must have gone unnoticed, because she was able to gain access through   
the secret Team entry point in the official records pages of the Viridian City Gym. Still   
occasionally looking over her shoulder only to find that nobody had even noticed her   
presence, Annie tapped into the personnel files she had been seeking and quickly found   
the records she wanted. Butch Crandall and Cassidy Parker. Her pupils, her trainees   
from the past. The record showed the same address for each of them, and Annie jotted   
down the information quickly on a stray index card somebody before her had left behind.   
  
After a quick stop at the reference desk to check a city map and confirm that the   
address was where she had thought it to be, Annie was back on the road. Her face was   
tight with determination as she drove to the upper east side of Viridian City. The rain had   
stopped, and rays of bright sunshine were starting to peek through the clouds. The light   
was a comfort, almost a reassurance that all would soon be right. Crandall and Parker   
would help. They had to help. They were still, and forever would be, her students after   
all.  
  
With a cold certainty, Annie finally pulled into the covered parking of   
Aerodactyl Apartments, the small complex her protégées called home. The Red Rocket   
emerged from her car cautiously, her hands gripping the guns in each coat pocket tightly.   
Her eyes shifted all around the lot as she walked determinedly to their home, an   
apartment on the first floor in the back of the complex. As she approached the door,   
Annie drew Li's gun in her left hand and leaned against the wall beside the door. After a   
quick look around, she rapped on the door with her right hand. A moment later, the   
door swung inward and Butch appeared, clad in a hunter-green robe and slippers. Annie   
swung around to the doorway quickly and shoved Butch inside, slamming the door shut   
behind them. "Hello, Crandall." Annie said quietly.  
  
"Agent Masterson!" Butch said in surprise. He was quick to salute his superior   
officer.  
  
"Save it. Where's Parker?" Annie asked curtly, waving Li's gun in the air.   
Butch's eye caught the engraving on the bottom of the handle, a small picture of a   
lightning bolt through the capital letters LC, and recognized it as his son's gun instantly.   
His face betrayed none of the recognition.  
  
"Butch? Who is it?" Cassidy asked, emerging from the bedroom in a baby doll   
nightgown and fuzzy slippers. She gasped in surprise at the sight of Annie. "Ms.   
Masterson! What are you doing here?"  
  
Annie walked past her without a word and entered their kitchen. Butch and   
Cassidy watched her as they exchanged glances. Annie opened the fridge, looked inside   
for second, and then removed a glass bottle full of orange juice. She opened the bottle,   
breaking the seal on it, and took a big drink of the juice. "I need your help." She said,   
pointing at them.  
  
"Of course. What can we do for you?" Cassidy asked as Annie crossed back to   
the living room, the juice bottle in her right hand and Li's gun still in her left.   
  
Annie looked the two of them over. They were just as they had been when she   
had first met them as fledgling white Rockets- a hard reputation that hid two simple-  
minded, quivering, suck-up toadies. Ah, well. At least she still held control over   
something. Maintaining the hard, no-nonsense front for which she was legendary,   
Annie took another drink of their juice and casually plopped down onto their easy chair.   
Butch shot Cassidy a quick look, and Cassidy chimed in, like the little butt-kisser Annie   
thought her to be, "You look rather tired, Madam. May I take your coat?" It was a   
strange touch of quiet civility from the usually vulgar Black Rocket.  
  
Annie nodded, and set down the juice and the .45 on the glass-topped coffee table   
in front of her. As she started to remove her coat, Butch suddenly swept the gun up and   
trained it on his former mentor. "I'd stop now, Annie." He growled.  
  
Annie looked at her former students with wide eyes. "What the hell do you think   
you're doing, Crandall?" she sputtered angrily.  
  
"I'm making good with the Boss." Butch smirked. "Call 'im, babe." Cassidy   
smiled her most evil, cunning smile.  
  
"My pleasure." She said coldly.  
  
"Freeze, Parker!" Annie snarled. The Red Rocket glared at the two of them,   
these pathetic upstarts who dared to challenge their mentor. "I am a Red Rocket, and as   
your superior officer, I order you to release me this second!"  
  
Butch shot Cassidy a wide grin, and she returned it. The two of them then burst   
into gales of derisive laughter.   
  
"Aww, isn't that cute, Butch? She actually thinks she's still our superior!"   
Cassidy giggled mockingly.  
  
"Fun-ny!" Butch croaked, placing emphasis on the last syllable. "Get real,   
Masterson. You lost all your rank and power when you were thrown into the Resort.   
Face it… You're lower than a stupid Grunt!"  
  
"Why, you treacherous little shits! I made you what you are! Without me you   
are nothing, you hear me? Nothing!" Annie screamed.  
  
Cassidy's mocking smile turned into a vicious, evil scowl. "Wrong!" she   
screeched, jabbing her finger in Annie's face. "We are everything without you! We are   
just what you tried to make us… perfect soldiers! Soldiers who know that the past-   
especially relics of the past- do not matter!" With that, Cassidy turned away from her   
with a dismissive snort and marched dutifully to the phone.   
  
Butch's eyes were locked on Annie. In her coat pockets, Annie could feel a   
weight on each thigh. Her gun and Virginia's gun. The guns were no comfort, however,   
as Annie knew she couldn't possibly draw from this position before Butch could pump a   
bullet or three into her.   
  
"This is Black Rocket Cassidy Parker-Crandall, Agent 556. Get me the Boss   
right away." Annie heard Cassidy say into the phone. Soon her time would be up for   
good. Tiredly, Annie reached for the clear glass bottle of orange juice on the coffee   
table.   
  
Butch cocked the .45 with a deadly click. "Eh, eh, eh, Masterson. What are you   
doing?"   
  
Annie glared at him with annoyance. "Cripes, Crandall. You stupid bastards are   
signing my death warrant. Can't I at least get a drink off you?"  
  
Butch smirked. "One second." He said, and picked up the bottle. With a loud   
snort, he shot a large gob of spit into the juice. The viscous blob sank down into the   
pulpy juice. "Enjoy." Butch said with a grin as he passed the bottle back to Annie. She   
took the bottle and looked at it with disgust.  
  
"Well, find him, damn it! This is a frickin' priority call, you understand me?"   
Cassidy snapped into the phone.  
  
Annie looked at Butch as she lifted the bottle to her lips. It was now or never.   
With a lunge, Annie thrust the bottle forward and a spray of orange juice hit Butch   
square in his eyes. The citrus in the juice burned, and Butch squinted his eyes shut and   
growled. Grabbing her chance, Annie jumped to her feet and slammed the bottle against   
the side of his head, smashing it to pieces. Butch slumped to the ground as Annie   
jumped over him and ran out the door. Behind her, she heard Cassidy's tense, "Shit!   
Get up, Butch! Aw, Damn it!" Annie ran across the lot to her car frantically, her hand   
fumbling for her gun in one pocket, her keys in the other. Just as she reached her car,   
gunshots rang out around her. Annie spun around to see Cassidy wielding Li's gun and   
running toward her with a wild look on her face. Annie looked at her former student with   
an authoritative look, and raised her gun. Cassidy froze in her tracks for a second.   
Annie began firing at the Black Rocket, not really intending to hit her. Cassidy's   
expression cracked, and she immediately dropped to the ground and scampered behind a   
car. Annie allowed herself a wry, knowing grin. Nothing had changed. Parker still   
couldn't dodge bullets to save her life.  
  
Annie threw herself into the driver's seat and gunned the engine. Cassidy   
straightened up from behind the car and took aim. She began firing again, but with her   
limited supply of ammunition in the gun she couldn't hope to hit the rapidly retreating   
target Annie presented her with. In moments, the Red Rocket was gone, her car out of   
sight. Angrily, Cassidy stomped her foot and began to march back to the apartment to   
see to Butch and report back to the Boss. He wasn't going to like this… Suddenly,   
Cassidy became aware of a pair of eyes on her as one of the other residents of the   
complex stared out his open door at her. "What the hell are you staring at?" she   
demanded as she pointed the empty gun at him. In a panic, the man slammed his door   
shut. Cassidy smugly snorted at the door, then realized for the first time since she had   
run out after Masterson that she was still wearing her slippers and baby doll nightgown.   
Her face flushed red as she ran back to the apartment.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART NINE: STRANGE BEDFELLOWS 


	9. Strange Bedfellows

PART NINE – STRANGE BEDFELLOWS  
  
Fifteen miles away, Annie's car pulled to the side of the road and stopped. Annie   
slumped over the steering wheel in exhausted disbelief. Hard as it was for her to come to   
terms with, five hours before she had been lying in a hospital bed mourning the loss of   
her baby. Now, all that had changed, and her world had been violently thrown upside   
down once again. Her baby girl- if the baby was indeed really a girl- was in the hands   
of the slime she had wanted to keep her away from more than anything else in the world.   
The Team, like the monster it was, had sunk its teeth into her family, her bloodline,   
and it would never let go. It had consumed and destroyed her mother first, then her aunt,   
then herself, and now it was moving to her baby like the final course in some ghastly   
buffet. Why? What was it about the Koldron/Masterson DNA that made them so   
desirable, such perfect targets? The question burned itself indelibly into Annie's mind,   
though she knew no answer would come to her.   
  
Exactly how long Annie sat there contemplating the "whys" and the "hows", she   
could not say, but through it all her thoughts led to one inescapable conclusion: You are   
alone. There is nobody to help you, and you wanna try to take the whole Team on by   
yourself? That's suicide, Annie. Even for you. Raven's voice came to her next… Just   
walk away, Annie. Walk away now. The Team's too powerful, don't you see? They   
cannot be stopped or defied.  
  
A tear rolled down Annie's cheek as another familiar voice from the past came to   
her… Annette. Annie looked around in shock. "Mama?" she whispered. You mustn't   
give up, Annette. You must fight for your child… as I tried to fight for you. Please, my   
darling, don't let them win. Don't let them win… Annie shook her head, now   
determined that way to win had to exist. It simply HAD to.   
  
Annie exhaled a deep breath, and looked out the passenger side window. There   
was nothing around her, and a dirt road stretched out to her right. The road held a vague   
familiarity, and Annie stared at it intently, trying to recall it's meaning. Suddenly, she   
realized why the road looked familiar. "Oh. Oh, no. No, no, no, no." Annie said, her   
eyes wide. She folded her arms across her chest and looked to her left. She could not go   
down that road.  
  
It took all of 30 seconds for Annie to realize she had no choice. This was a fight   
that could not be won alone- And as much as Annie may have despised it, she knew that   
if there was a single person on the whole Team who would even possibly consider   
helping her, it was the man who lived at the end of that dirt road in a small cottage with   
his wife. Annie knew that it was the slimmest of chances, given the past she shared with   
this man, but Annie also knew something else… that it was the only chance. "Damn it."   
She muttered as she started the car and headed down the dirt road, remembering full well   
the last time she had been down this road… it had been with Severin Salyavin, and their   
destination had been the small cabin at the end, which was occupied by Black Rockets   
Jessie and James Morgan. They- or rather she- had been on a mission of revenge, of   
retribution, of payback. Merely remembering the events of that night made Annie   
shudder- how she and Severin had bound and gagged Jessie and James, how she had   
tried to kill their son Michael, how Severin had betrayed her, how she had killed the   
lying pig, and the strange, quiet respect she had secretly held for James and his family   
afterward. Certainly, he was still the one who had caused her downfall, but somehow in   
some strange way, it no longer seemed crucial that the score be settled. As Annie   
pondered this strange feeling, she finally understood why. From the day Raven had   
collected Annie, the Team had been all Annie knew and all that she had. She had never   
longed for anything else simply because she never knew anything else could be. It had   
been her life, her love, her passion, and ultimately her undoing. Why had she pursued   
James for over 25 years? Because of the impact he had had on her only way of life… on   
her very existence.   
  
However, it had all shifted that night, the night before the night she and Severin   
had gone to that cabin… the night she and Severin had made love (Well, she had,   
anyway) to each other. Like most major changes, it had begun with an imperceptible   
shift when she became pregnant. It had taken her nearly a month to even realize that   
much. Since that night, however, the wheels had been put in motion, and Annie had   
been powerless to stop it. She had faced the prospect of a baby, of motherhood, of   
giving unconditional love to another being. All these were ideas that ran completely   
counter to the Team life she had embraced for so long. It was strange, really, to think…   
had she never met James, had he not blown that mission, her partnership with Severin   
never would have happened, and she certainly would never have become pregnant with   
his child. Her worst enemy had opened the door to her new life. All these thoughts ran   
rampant in her mind as the cabin came into view. The car stopped and she walked slowly   
to the door, dreading the reactions of James and his wife Jessie.  
  
As the door drew closer, Annie pulled Virginia's .45 from her pocket and held it   
at her side. She really didn't want to use it, but she had to be ready if the situation arose.   
Her free hand balled into a fist, rose, then hesitated. With a deep breath, Annie steeled   
herself, gathered all resolve, and knocked on the door.   
  
A moment later, the door opened, and James leaped back with a surprised yelp.   
"Annie!" he squeaked. In an instant, Jessie was at her husband's side, her face tight   
with anger. "What do you want?" she snarled threateningly.  
  
Annie's gun remained pointing at the ground. "I need help." She said quietly.  
  
"Help? From us?" Jessie said icily. "That's the funniest thing I've heard in   
years. This is some kind of a trick."  
  
"Jessie." Annie said, using her enemy's name for the first time to her face, "You   
can see I'm armed. If I wanted to, I could easily kill you both."  
  
Jessie's expression didn't change. "And not humiliate and torture us first? That's   
not like you at all. What are you really here for, Masterson?" she demanded cynically.  
  
Some of Annie's bitterness of the past bubbled violently to the surface, and   
Virginia's gun shook in her hand. "Please." Annie said in a whisper. It was a tone she   
hadn't used in years like this.  
  
James blinked and stepped forward. "What?' he asked, not believing the word   
he had just heard. Annie looked at James, the man whom she had counted as an enemy   
for decades, and raised her gun. James froze, paralyzed by the moment as Annie's free   
hand grabbed his and Virginia's gun was thrust into his grip. James was numb with   
surprise as Annie's hand then raised his up so that his hand was holding the gun, cold,   
deadly, and loaded, directly at her own head.  
  
"If you're not gonna help me, then kill me." Annie said in a trembling whisper.   
"Team Rocket has taken something from me- something more important to me than my   
own life, and you two are my last hope. I am willing to be forever in your debt if you   
will only help me. But if you won't, then pull that trigger and get me away from this   
world."  
  
James breathed heavily as he lowered the .45. "We'll help." He said softly.  
  
Jessie's reaction came in a nanosecond. "Are you crazy?" she screamed at her   
husband. Instantly, the .45 was in her fist and was pressed hard against Annie's skull.   
"This bitch tried to kill you twice, not to mention me and Michael! You wanna help   
her?!"  
  
James looked at his love with haunted eyes, unable to say anything. Jessie turned   
back to Annie. "You tried to kill me, my husband, and my son. Why the hell should I   
give a flying fuck about you?"  
  
Annie started to speak, but Jessie interrupted with a snarl. "What could the Team   
have possibly taken from you that would make you come to us, anyway? You're the   
great Annie Masterson! The best of the Reds, as you've screamed so many times! What   
on Earth could the Team have done that was so bad the great one couldn't handle it by   
herself?!"  
  
James put his hand on Jessie's shoulder. "Jess..." he began.  
  
Jessie batted his hand away. "No!" She said forcefully. "I wanna know! What   
made the big, bad Red come crawling to us?" James drew back. Never had he heard   
such hate and rage in his wife's voice. "Answer me, you murdering bitch!" Jessie   
commanded.  
  
"My baby!" Annie screamed as her front collapsed and tears began to fall down   
her cheek. "I had a baby- Severin's baby- and I held the hope of being a mother! It- it-   
it was the most amazing, most wonderful, most special thing that I could ever imagine   
or hope for, and that bastard Giovanni took it all away!"  
  
James looked at his nemesis. "Took it away?" he whispered in shock.  
  
"He stole my baby. My daughter. To raise as the perfect Rocket." Annie said   
between sobs. Her voice cleared, then came in a raw, acidic bitterness. "That son of a   
bitch had my life, and it wasn't enough. He wanted my child's life as well."  
  
"I don't believe you." Jessie said coldly. It was a half-truth. Part of her believed,   
part of her didn't.   
  
Annie looked at her, and dropped to her knees. Again, her hand reached   
passively for the gun and pressed it against her head. "Then do it." She whispered.  
  
The .45 trembled against Annie's head as Jessie's face scowled, then relaxed,   
then tightened again, then finally relaxed resignedly. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Jessie   
muttered as she lowered the gun. "You aren't lying, are you?" she asked grudgingly.  
  
Annie shook her head, confirming that she was not lying. Jessie threw Virginia's   
gun onto the couch in frustration. The Black Rocket warily extended her hand to help her   
enemy to her feet. Annie rose from the ground, and Jessie pulled her close. "Know this.   
If you give me even the slightest reason to doubt you, I will kill you with my bare   
hands."  
  
Annie looked at Jessie with respect. "I don't doubt it." She replied softly.  
  
"Where do we begin?" James asked.   
  
"Right at the top." Annie said as she sat down on their couch. At that moment, a   
small figure walked out of the bedroom with a yawn. Meowth was just waking from a   
catnap, and he rubbed his eyes sleepily before they came into full focus. When they did,   
he leapt back with surprise. "Masterson!" he yelped. That was when he realized that   
Jessie and James were sitting calmly with their enemy. "Uhhh… Okay, guys, what the   
heck did I miss?"  
  
As she had said, Annie started at the top- her child with Severin, a name that   
still made Jessie cringe. Next came the way she had found and trusted Ian Loomis, the   
way the whole delivery had been an elaborate front for the grab, Giovanni's plans for the   
baby, the assassins who had been waiting for her, and finally the betrayal of Butch and   
Cassidy.   
  
"Hardly surprising, knowing them." James said dully.  
  
"I suppose." Annie agreed. They always had been putrid little backbiters, after   
all.  
  
"I always knew Giovanni was a bastard. I never knew he could sink this low."   
Jessie growled, without a hint of satisfaction at Annie's current state of affairs.   
  
"But what can we do?" Meowth asked.  
  
Annie looked up cautiously. "A Red would be able to find out where the baby   
is." She said quietly.  
  
James looked at her. "Michael." He replied.  
  
Annie nodded. "Would he- would Michael help me?" There was a quiet   
pleading in her voice.   
  
"Not for us to say." Jessie answered. "All we can do is contact him and ask."  
  
"Meowth and I will get him from Headquarters tonight." James volunteered. "He   
has tomorrow off of duty, anyway."  
  
"Uh, Jimmy… What about… you know…" Meowth began, glancing at Annie.   
He pointed a claw outward. "Bang, bang, bang?" he finished without a hint of subtlety.  
  
Annie looked at the Pokemon. "You don't trust me." She said.  
  
Meowth sweat dropped as she looked down at him. "Uh…"  
  
"I don't blame you." Annie finished. She passed her own .45 to Jessie, and   
Virginia's to James. "You have all my weapons. Jessie can keep that one, and James,   
you keep that one. Better?" she asked Meowth somewhat grudgingly, though she knew   
she was only enduring the reputation that she herself had built.  
  
"Sorry." Meowth replied. "It's just dat…"  
  
"Help me," Annie interrupted, "and I swear that none of you will ever be a target   
of mine again."  
  
Jessie looked at Annie's eyes, and passed the .45 back to her. Annie accepted the   
weapon with surprise. "You're a better shot if there's trouble." Jessie explained softly.  
The four looked at each other, and realized that the past was fading more with each   
passing second.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TEN: PROJECT CONQUEST 


	10. Project: Conquest

PART TEN – PROJECT: CONQUEST  
  
Michael was surprised. No, surprised wasn't the right word for it. It would have   
been far more fitting to say he was shocked beyond belief. He and Constance had been   
sitting on their couch together listening to Michael's father tell them the whole   
unbelievable story. The same horrifying enemy who had tried to kill all of them less than   
a year ago was now here begging for their help, even begging them to kill her if that help   
was refused.   
  
Constance had urged James on, while Michael simply sat there in stunned   
disbelief as he tried to take it all in. Michael finally spoke when James reached the   
details of the stolen baby. "Oh, my God." He said in a hushed tone. "Project   
Conquest."  
  
His partner looked at him and nodded somberly. "Has to be." She agreed.  
  
Meowth looked at them, not understanding. "Project Conquest? What's dat?"  
  
Constance took a deep breath. "About- what was it Michael? 3, 4 months ago?"  
  
Michael nodded. "About that."  
  
"About three or four months ago," Constance continued, "a call came through   
the Red ranks for volunteers. Some high-level mission called Project Conquest."  
  
"What was it about?" James asked.  
  
"Nasty stuff." Constance replied gravely. "Details weren't given in the general   
call, but the quick summary made mention of-" Constance paused. The Red Rocket   
took another deep breath to steady herself. "acquiring a baby to raise as the perfect   
soldier. A child molded from birth with Team doctrine and trained to be the most   
efficient, most ruthless agent they could be."  
  
James was aghast. "Constance and I passed it up. It was just too ugly for us."   
Michael said. "We never really gave it much thought after that."  
  
"It had all seemed strange from the start." Constance added. "I mean, raising a   
child from birth for that purpose… and the fact that it couldn't be just any baby, but a   
specific baby chosen for this mission…"  
  
"Giovanni didn't have any intangibles about that mission. He knew exactly who   
that baby was gonna be, and how to get it. He had an inside track from phase one!"   
James said, shocked by the cold, calculating evil of his employer more now than ever   
before.  
  
"Yeah." Meowth muttered. "Mikey, what else happened with dat project?"  
  
Michael shrugged. "Nothing else came up about it except for little rumors here   
and there. It was all very high-level, very hushed up."  
  
Constance nodded. "Even Laura didn't say much. Really unlike her, actually."   
She mused.  
  
"Who?" James asked.  
  
"Laura Cummings. She's a Red who volunteered." Constance explained.   
"Normally, you can't get that girl to shut up when it comes to her missions. It takes a lot   
to get her to be quiet, but she's done it."  
  
"Think dis Laura might talk now?" Meowth asked.  
  
"Maybe, but she's not stupid." Constance said. "She certainly wouldn't tell just   
anybody."  
  
"But she might tell you." Michael said cautiously.  
  
"Michael Morgan, don't you dare go there." Constance said in a warning tone.  
  
James and Meowth looked at Michael. "Constance and Laura don't get along   
very well." He explained. "Laura seems to think she's her best friend."  
  
"And she ain't?" Meowth asked.  
  
"That nut job can't take a hint to get lost." Constance growled.  
  
"Constance…" James said hesitantly. "We need any information we can get.   
Can you call Laura and talk to her?"  
  
Constance sighed heavily. "You know I will. Michael has your expressions, and   
I can't say no to him, either." She said with a small grin.  
  
Laura was just wrapping a towel around her wet hair when the phone rang. She   
hurried out of the bathroom and to the phone. "Agent Cummings." She said   
professionally.  
  
In the apartment, James, Meowth, and Michael watched with mild amusement   
as Constance cringed as if she had just bitten into a lemon. "Laura! It's Constance!" the   
Red said in a saccharine-sweet voice.   
  
Laura broke into a wide grin. "Connie! How are you?" Laura said in a happy,   
bubbly tone far detached from the commanding voice she had used when ordering Annie   
to breathe from the mask in the operating room at the hospital.  
  
"Oh, you know… the usual…. Could be better, could be worse… Hey, listen   
Laura, I got the funniest thing for you." Constance said cheerfully. "You know,   
Michael and I were just talking, and we realized we hadn't heard anything more about   
that whole Project Conquest deal in forever. Remember that thing?"  
  
"Remember it? Girl, I was in it!" Cummings replied happily.  
  
Constance feigned surprise. "You were? Well, hell, girl, I didn't know that. So   
what was that whole deal about, anyway?"  
  
Laura sighed. "C'mon, Connie, that shit was top secret."  
  
"Mmm." Constance said in a disappointed tone. "Well, I underst-"  
  
"Aw, hell, I gotta tell you this, though." Laura interrupted. "You'd never guess   
whose baby that was that we got. You'd never guess in a million years!" Laura sounded   
like a kid on a massive sugar rush.  
  
Constance rolled her eyes. "So whose baby was it, Laura?"  
  
"Guess!" Laura said excitedly.  
  
The groan was barely audible over the phone. "Faye Valentine's." she said dully.  
  
"Who?" Laura asked.  
  
"Never mind. Whose baby was it?" Constance asked again, praying for patience.  
  
"You know, Mikey would get a kick outta this! It was the baby of that crazy Red   
who was always after his father, Annie Masterson!"  
  
"Masterson?" Constance said in a fake surprised tone. "No kidding?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, Con! Not only that, but guess which Red personally laid that psycho   
bitch out flat?" Laura bubbled.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Me!"  
  
"You?"  
  
"Well, me and Sweet Lady Morphine." Laura laughed.  
  
"And Masterson never knew, huh?" Constance asked.  
  
"Not a bit. Top Red, my ass. I wonder if that freak was ever on top." Laura said   
dismissively.  
  
"So what happened with the baby?" Constance asked, trying to sound casual.  
  
"Domino has it. She's raising it on her own." Laura replied.  
  
"Really. Domino herself, huh? This thing really did go straight to the top,   
didn't it?" Constance said as she motioned to Michael.  
  
"Constance! I need some help back here!" Michael called in an urgent tone.  
  
"Hey, Laura, I gotta run. Michael needs me."  
  
"No prob, Connie! Hey, listen, we gotta get together sometime next week!   
Have a girl's night out! We could cut and party!" Laura said excitedly.  
  
Constance rolled her eyes to the ceiling again. Right. "Yeah, we'll have to hook   
up sometime. I gotta go, ok?"  
  
"Sure, Cons! Talk to ya later, Chica!" The Red hung up the phone, thought   
about the call for a minute, then picked up the receiver and dialed a number. Agent   
Cummings held her breath as the phone on the other end rang once, and was answered.   
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Sir, this is Red Agent Cummings. I just got a call from another agent asking   
about Project Conquest, and I am reporting that call as ordered." Laura said dutifully.  
  
Giovanni's hand tightened on his receiver. "Who contacted you?" he asked   
tensely.  
  
"Red Rocket Constance Conway." Cummings replied in a voice devoid of   
emotion.  
  
"Michael Morgan's partner?" Giovanni asked, pondering the unexpected answer.   
"Well, what a turn of events." He had already received the reports of the two assassins   
he had sent to kill Annie, as well as a hurried report from Cassidy and Butch Crandall.   
Could Masterson be trying to force Morgan's family to help her? It seemed unlikely,   
given the way she hated that fool James, but still…  
  
"Sir?" Laura asked, confused by the silence.  
  
"Thank you for your report, Agent Cummings." Giovanni said curtly as he hung   
up the phone. Certain steps would now have to be taken to ensure the security of Project   
Conquest… Steps that were far too important to be entrusted to a stupid grunt or even an   
assassin…  
  
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART ELEVEN: CHERISH 


	11. Cherish

PART ELEVEN - CHERISH  
  
Michael and Constance stared uneasily at Annie. Despite his father's assurances,   
Michael and his partner still could not shake their distrust of the Red who had all too   
recently tried to murder them all.   
  
"Domino?" Annie scoffed, recalling the 15 year old Black Rocket who had   
kissed butt and clawed all the way to power. "That pathetic little upstart has my baby?"  
  
Michael and Constance exchanged knowing looks. "Maybe she was an upstart   
then," Constance said, not really believing it at all, "but she's not anymore. She's as   
lethal as any of us, if not more so, and she's a Master Class Red Rocket."  
  
"Giovanni's favorite, lethal, cunning, destructive… the logical candidate to   
take on the Rocket mother role in Project Conquest." Michael added contemptuously.  
  
"Project Conquest." Annie snarled. "As if life is a mission. Damn that   
Giovanni."  
  
"Annie, we know where Domino lives. She has a big house in a rich   
neighborhood on the southwest side of Viridian." Constance said.  
  
Annie looked at her with determined eyes. "Then we move in tonight." She said   
authoritatively. The former Red picked up her .45 from the dining room table and   
checked the clip as Michael and Constance's hands hovered over their own side arms. It   
was pure reflex. Annie noted it instantly with a sense of discouragement. She set her   
gun down on the table again as Jessie and James watched a trace of regret pass across her   
face like a fine mist. "I realize you are less than happy to be working with me." She said   
softly, avoiding Michael's hard glare.  
  
"I have a very difficult time working with people who try to kill me and my   
parents." Michael said in a low voice.  
  
Annie exhaled a deep breath and walked to him. Michael visibly tensed as she   
did so. Annie placed her hands on his shoulders. "Michael," she began in a calm voice,   
"I could never hurt you, your family , or your partner ever again."  
  
Michael looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Why should I believe you?" he   
asked her.  
  
Annie's face clouded, and she released Michael's shoulders. "Michael, I was   
teamed with your father years ago. We did one mission together. A mission he ruined."   
Annie stated. James looked away and whistled nervously.  
  
"I've heard that many times." Michael countered.  
  
"That blown mission ruined a perfect record that had been my obsession for   
years." Annie continued in a calm, quiet tone that she had never once used before when   
discussing this subject. "The result of this was that I felt so angry, so devastated, that I   
kidnapped him in order to have my revenge on him. Your mother ruined that plan, of   
course." Annie's tone still remained strangely light despite the subject matter.  
  
"I've heard that story as well." Michael replied.  
  
"Your mother's interference, coupled with a second defeat, led to a nervous   
breakdown, and over 25 years in the Resort. I hated your parents with a passion there,   
Michael. In fact, I filled many days and many nights with dreams of how I would   
destroy them if I ever had the chance."  
  
"And Severin gave it to you." Constance interjected.  
  
Annie looked at the floor. "Yes. Yes, he did. Severin Salyavin got me out with   
a forged release, seduced me, helped me plot your deaths, and then-" Annie trailed off   
for a second. "–he betrayed me." She finished solemnly.  
  
"So?" Michael spat. "All you've done is rehash history. What does it mean to   
me now?"  
  
"As you'll recall, I let you all go that night. It was because I admired you, the   
unity you shared, the loyalty I felt I could never touch no matter how hard I tried. I   
thought a lot that night after I left you. I re-examined a lot of my life and the choices I've   
made in it. A month later, I learned I was pregnant by Severin. That was when it I   
understood… I had been blessed by it all. This was my chance to love and be loved, to   
care and be cared about, to feel the joy your parents know, and I realized…"  
  
"What?" Constance asked.  
  
"It never would have been so without Michael's father. The failure, the revenge,   
the Resort, Severin, my baby… None of it would have happened without James   
Morgan. Now, he, your mother, and you are all willing to put the past aside and help   
me despite it all… I am more indebted to you than you could ever know."  
  
Constance smiled. Michael stared at Annie, his face like stone. "What if you're   
lying?" he asked coldly. Constance shot her partner a stern look. Michael ignored it.  
  
"Do you think I am?" Annie asked him softly.  
  
Michael looked at her with steely eyes. "I don't know what to think. Part of me   
does, part of me doesn't."  
  
"Which is more?" Annie asked.  
  
"I want to believe you. It's hard." Michael admitted.  
  
"Allies, then?" Annie asked, extending her hand.  
  
Michael hesitated for a second, then shook her hand. "Allies." He agreed with a   
tight smile. It was a forced alliance, and Michael had severe doubts, but… all he could   
do was pray for the best.  
  
The rest of the evening held a tense air. Jessie tried to lighten the silent, serious   
mood by cooking a pasta meal for everyone, but only she and Constance ate any. Annie   
kept pacing around, anxious to reclaim her child, while James watched her with a mix of   
concern and pity. Michael sat in a chair in the corner, his back to the wall and his .45 on   
his lap as he watched Annie's every move with a quiet, distrustful glare.  
  
When enough time had finally passed and the moon was high in the dark night   
sky, Michael, Constance, and Annie climbed into Michael's red jeep while Jessie,   
James, and Meowth followed closely in their own, leaving Annie's car behind for fear   
that it would be recognized. Michael asked Constance to drive, and sat in the passenger   
seat, keeping a close watch on Annie in the backseat in the rear view mirror.  
  
It took about 30 minutes to drive across the dark expanse of Viridian. Most stores   
and shops were closed at the late hour, and only the City's Pokemon Center and Gym   
gave off any real light from inside. The lights from those two buildings in the center of   
town faded away as the two-vehicle convoy approached the southwest side of town and   
began driving past big, dark houses, some three stories tall. This was the affluent side   
of town, and held homes far removed from the simplicity of Jessie and James' cabin, the   
small space of Butch and Cassidy's apartment, or even the modest luxury of Severin's   
apartment in the center of town that Annie remembered all too well.  
  
Constance turned onto the street that held Domino's home, and parked at the far   
end, away from the house. Jessie and James followed suit.  
  
Michael and Constance each drew a .45 automatic from under their seats and   
holstered the weapons at their sides before getting out. Annie followed them, her own   
.45 tucked into her coat pocket. Jessie clutched Virginia's gun tightly in her fist as she   
climbed out nervously, looking up and down the dark street. It was about 2:15 AM,   
and not a soul was in sight. If Giovanni had any clue where Annie was, he was taking it   
very lightly. There was no sign of an ambush at all, just Domino's obnoxious pink 1957   
Cadillac parked in her driveway. Ahead of her, Jessie watched Michael, Constance and   
Annie wait for them as James turned the car off and climbed out. She noted Michael and   
Constance's .45's, then looked at her husband. I don't need one, he had said. I'm a   
lousy shot and besides, I hate guns. Jessie sighed to herself as she looked at James'   
choice of weaponry: a single red rose. Some things never change, she thought. As the   
group crept along the side of Domino's three-story house, Jessie could only pray that   
Annie was not one of those things…  
  
The five agents and Meowth crept silently up the path to Domino's yard, where   
Michael knew a patio door was likely to be unlocked. As their forms disappeared into   
the darkness, three sets of eyes watched them from behind thick glasses.   
  
"There they go." The owner of the first pair of eyes said. The two girls   
accompanying her giggled.  
  
"Rocket Jeeps always have the best parts, Hope." The first girl said.  
  
Hope and Charity Ivy smiled at their sister, the eldest by 2 minutes. "Well,   
naturally." Charity chimed in, ever the encyclopedia of automotive knowledge. "They   
have to be equipped for any terrain, and be able to outrun Jennies."  
  
"These two oughta fetch a great price." Hope agreed, eyeing the two custom   
Jeeps lovingly.  
  
"Then let's go." Faith grinned cunningly. The three sisters stood up, each one   
clad in a black skintight outfit that had only one distinguishing mark, a patch on the   
shoulder with a picture of a strand of ivy. The thieves silently moved to the jeeps, each   
one clutching a small black toolbox…  
  
As Michael had predicted, the sliding glass patio door at the back of Domino's   
house was unlocked, and slid open soundlessly. "Humph. Pathetic." Annie whispered   
as the group silently entered the darkened house. Michael looked around cautiously, but   
the first floor appeared deserted.  
  
"I wonder where the baby is." James whispered. Michael looked around in the   
darkness, his .45 automatic raised and one eye constantly on Masterson.  
  
Annie suddenly raised her hand, and motioned toward a cracked door in the far   
wall. A soft glow could be seen from the room beyond the door, and the quiet, tinkling   
strains of a lullaby tune wafted out.  
  
Annie raised her gun, and walked deliberately to the door. Michael and   
Constance followed her closely, side by side. Jessie, James, and Meowth followed   
behind Michael and Constance, forming a triangle. Everyone except Annie kept looking   
all around the house, watching the stairs and the balconies in particular, but the house   
remained as dark and quiet as ever. Not a soul appeared to stop them.  
  
Annie reached out to the door, and gave it a gentle push. It swung open   
soundlessly, revealing a small pink bassinet silhouetted by the soft glow of a single   
nightlight. The sound of the lullaby floated through the air from the bassinet, emanating   
from a small speaker in the hood. The quiet tune held the innocence of childhood, soft   
and music-box like. It wasn't until Annie stepped closer that she realized the lullaby also   
contained words, softly sung to the music by Domino: "It's a high-rise, black sky, four-  
lane, play the game, buy a thrill, God's will, bottom's up, blood, smut…" Annie   
stood in shock, sickened by the coupling of the insane lyrics with the lullaby tune her   
baby was being forced to listen to. Michael and Constance stood on their guard behind   
her as Annie stepped closer to the bassinet so that she could finally see her real baby with   
her own eyes as the evil lyrics continued; "...beat your neighbor, don't do favors,   
change your name, insane, accumulate, learn to hate, Rocket's rights, win or fight,   
scratch and win, love the sin, sell your future, screw the school kid…" Annie took a   
deep, steadying breath and looked into the bassinet with a blissful smile that instantly   
vanished when she saw that the bassinet only held a small white card that had but two   
words on it in simple black printing: GAME OVER. Annie gasped, and spun around in   
panic to face Michael.   
  
At that moment, the door through which the group had entered slammed shut,   
and bright, high-watt bulbs bathed the room in brilliant light. Giovanni stood in front of   
the closed door clutching a .357 Magnum in his fist, an odd choice of weapon, it   
seemed. Domino stood at his side dressed in full Red uniform, holding a small newborn   
clad in a pink one-piece sleeper close to her chest with one hand. The other hand hung at   
her side, and held a single black tulip.  
  
Giovanni smiled coldly and soullessly as his eyes pierced through Annie like two   
flaming stilettos. "Welcome back, Annie." He said viciously.  
  
Annie glared at him, her surprise replaced by pure hatred. "You bastard. Give   
me my baby." She growled. Giovanni stood there, still smiling and never flinching.   
Domino followed his lead, her tulip still harmlessly at her side. "Now, mother fucker!"   
Annie screamed in desperation, her own gun shaking as she aimed it at her former   
employer.  
  
"So vulgar." Giovanni sneered. "You're still all that you were, Annie. A soldier   
and a killer. I must say, though, I'm rather disappointed at your choice of allies. I   
mean, the Morgans? Even James?"  
  
"Give me my baby." Annie repeated, not deterred or intimidated in the least.  
  
"You went behind my back. You betrayed me. You murdered a headstrong but   
competent Red. But all that I'm willing to forgive, Annie, for one simple reason. You   
have proven that you are still the soldier you were. You are still the Red you were.   
Therefore, I have a proposition to submit to you." Giovanni said smoothly.  
  
Annie's gun never moved from his chest, and yet the respect for her employer   
that had been ingrained in her for years won out. "Proposition?" She repeated.  
  
"Come back. Stand by my side. Once you do, together we will rid ourselves of   
this treacherous, betraying slime-" he motioned with the gun casually, pointing out her   
comrades, "-and you will be free to raise little Conquest as the Rocket she can be with   
Domino."  
  
"And if I refuse?" Annie said defiantly.  
  
"Ever the gutsy one, eh, Annie?" Giovanni smirked. "How reassuring it is to   
know that your spirit is still intact, even after the Resort. I wonder if your technical   
expertise is as well." He raised the .357 in the air. "Tell me, weapons expert Masterson,   
what kind of a gun is this?"  
  
Annie raised an eyebrow. What was he up to? "That is a Smith and Wesson .357   
Magnum. A very powerful handgun not typically used because of its size and cost."   
Annie recited from rote.  
  
"Very good." Giovanni said in a slightly amused tone. "Now that I know you   
know what type of gun it is, I am doubly sure you know the damage it can do to human   
tissue."  
  
"I've seen it firsthand before." Annie said. It was no lie. She had, in fact, seen   
the damage it could to the human brainpan when she had been a young trainee. It hadn't   
been a pretty sight.  
  
"Now that I'm sure we all understand what I'm talking about, let me tell you   
what will happen if you refuse my proposal. Your little friends will die. Jessie, James,   
Meowth, Michael, Constance… They'll all die, and you will watch. That will be   
followed immediately by your own execution. But first-" Giovanni's face became that   
of a stone gargoyle now, emotionless and evil. "First I will show you exactly what this   
hand cannon can do to an infant." Domino held the baby away from her chest without a   
word, and Giovanni pointed the gun at Conquest's underside. He cocked the hammer   
back. "Your move, Agent Masterson." Giovanni snarled.  
  
Annie's eyes raged with emotion. She struggled to keep her voice calm. Michael   
and Constance exchanged scared but determined looks. Neither one knew exactly what   
was going to happen.   
  
Jessie, James, and Meowth all huddled together. None of them had any ideas. It   
all rested on Annie now. Annie stared at Giovanni, hate raging like a storm inside her.   
"You're a rotten bluffer, Giovanni." She said in a cold, stony tone. "You've gone   
through too much for this. You'd never jeopardize Project Conquest like that."  
  
Giovanni smirked. "You fool! Do you think I learned nothing from the Mewtwo   
experiments? The years of cloning research and development? All I need is a single cell   
sample from little Conquest, and she'll be mine all over again. A perfect copy for my   
purposes, and the last thing you'll get to see before you die will be the bullet tearing   
through your baby." Annie felt sick as Giovanni taunted her. "A single shot to a body   
that small… I imagine it'll rip her internal organs clean out… possibly even travel   
through one end and out through her skull, taking that tiny brain with it…"   
  
Domino smiled coldly as she stared at Annie with triumph. "You don't want that,   
do you, Annie? Join us, and you can save little Conquest. You'll even get her back,   
and we'll raise her together!" Domino offered.  
  
"You have to the count of three. Then, bang." Giovanni said darkly. He held   
the gun in place, the barrel pointed between Conquest's legs. "One." Annie's mouth   
quivered, the .45 trembling in her hands. WHY COULDN'T SHE FIRE?! "Two."   
Giovanni stated, then hesitated. "Thr-"  
  
"Wait!" Annie yelped. Giovanni looked at her. "You win. I'm your agent."   
She said softly.   
  
Giovanni grinned coldly. "Stand by my side." He ordered. Annie complied as   
Jessie and James' faces fell.   
  
"Annie! Please! He's lying to you! Just like he always has!" James begged.  
  
Annie looked at them with eyes that were as cold as they had been on that first   
day at Base Camp Delta. "Shut up." She said icily.  
  
Michael glared at her and trained his gun on Annie. "I knew I couldn't trust you,   
you bitch." He snarled.  
  
An energy bolt from the side knocked Michael's gun out of his grip, and it   
clattered harmlessly to the floor. "Uh, uh, uh, Mikey." Domino taunted. "She's on our   
side now." Constance aimed her gun at Domino, but the blonde quickly fired another   
blast from her tulip and Constance's gun was blown out of reach.  
  
Giovanni aimed his .357 at Michael. "Those who would turn against me are   
worthless."   
  
Michael closed his eyes. It was his fault. He should have been far more on his   
guard. The shot rang out with a deadly, echoing boom. He heard a gasping noise, and a   
thud. That bastard shot someone else! Michael thought. He opened his eyes, dreading   
the sight of Constance or one of his parents dying.   
  
No Morgan was harmed. Giovanni lay on his stomach, gasping and convulsing.   
A bullet wound in his back- from a gun fired at such close range that powder burns could   
be seen around the wound- spurted dark blood. Domino stood in shock, staring at her   
fallen employer. Annie pointed her smoking gun at the ceiling, and snatched the baby   
out of Domino's grip.   
  
Realizing Conquest was gone, Domino glared at Annie and raised her black tulip.   
She aimed it squarely at Annie, and depressed a small red button on the stem. The tip of   
the deadly artificial flower crackled with excess energy. "You're gonna pay for that,   
Masterson!" she screamed. Her gloved finger reached for the firing button when   
Michael and Constance suddenly plowed into her side, knocking her to the ground.   
Michael grabbed the upper stem of the tulip, and yanked it away. He ran to the other end   
of the room, holding the flower tightly but unsure of exactly how it worked. With a   
loud growl, Domino threw Constance off of her and ran to a table by the door, where a   
clear glass vase full of black tulips sat.   
  
Domino yanked a tulip out of the vase and clutched it tightly as she spun around   
and found herself face to face with James. James looked at her with wide eyes, and   
raised his own real rose in desperation. Domino sneered at him. "And what the hell   
good is that?" she scoffed.  
  
James' mouth quivered, and he was suddenly overcome with a memory of Annie   
at Base Camp Delta, taking her revenge on him. James raised the rose in the air, and   
swiped Domino across the face with it. The thorns in the stem scratched her cheek and   
drew blood. James smiled at Annie in the midst of it, and said with a laugh, "A good   
weapon, right?"   
  
"Moron!" Domino yelled as she fired a blast from the tulip. The energy bolt   
threw James back five feet, and he crashed into the bassinet, dazed but unharmed as he   
heard the words of the lullaby continue unabated, "Are you threatened by me? Are you   
threatened by me? You look so small with your fist so tight…" "Enough of this crap!"   
Domino yelled, aiming her tulip at Annie. Her finger brushed the top of the firing button   
when she suddenly felt it. A sudden crashing impact, then a flash of light, then the   
image of a bunch of black tulips falling around her as she fell to her knees and lost   
consciousness. Behind her, Jessie held the remains of the glass vase she had just broken   
over Domino's head. She was breathing heavily.   
  
Annie looked at her former enemy with wide eyes. "Thanks." She said simply.  
  
Jessie nodded, and turned to James. "Are you all right?" she asked him as   
Meowth slapped him to try to bring him around.   
  
"That was like being thunder shocked by the twerp's Pikachu all over again."   
James said in a daze.  
  
Michael chuckled. Only his father could get attacked and wax nostalgic about it.   
Constance stayed by James' side as he walked to where Annie stood, holding her baby   
close. "I- I'm sorry, Annie." He said softly.  
  
"I understand." Annie said quietly, rocking her baby close.  
  
Constance spoke up. "We gotta get out of here. Domino may not be out for   
long." Michael nodded, and helped Jessie get his father on his feet as James mumbled   
incoherently, "Blast speed at the light of off…"  
  
Annie stood there, not moving. Constance walked back to her. "C'mon." she   
said quietly.  
  
"Cherish." Annie said simply.   
  
Constance looked at her curiously. "What?" she asked.  
  
"My baby. That's her name. Cherish. Not Conquest. Cherish." Annie   
whispered, a smile on her face and a tear in each eye.  
  
Constance smiled. "It's a beautiful name… just like her."  
  
"Yes, she is." Annie said softly as she and Constance began walking to the door.   
When the two Reds reached the front, they were surprised to find Michael, Jessie,   
James and Meowth all stopped on the front porch. Michael looked furious.   
  
Constance stepped to him. "Michael? What is it?" she asked.  
  
"Look." Michael said simply. Constance looked outside, and saw the chassis of   
their Jeep, stripped of its parts. Jessie and James' Jeep was nowhere to be found.  
  
"What the hell…" Constance began.  
  
"Ivies." Michael growled.  
  
"Now what?" Jessie asked desperately. She looked back at Domino, but the   
blonde still wasn't stirring from her spot on the floor.  
  
"Just leave it to Me-owth!" Meowth said suddenly, and he ran back inside. He   
returned a second later with a set of keys on a ring with a large gold "D".  
  
Michael looked at the keys. "What…" he asked.  
  
"I believe dese are da keys to Master Agent Domino's ride?" Meowth said as she   
flicked the keys up to Michael. The Red Rocket chuckled as he looked at the big pink   
Cadillac. "You heard the Meowth. Everyone in!" Michael said as the group climbed   
into the car. Michael jumped behind the wheel and gunned the engine. Soon, the classic   
car was tearing away through the quiet, wealthy neighborhood.   
  
Ninety minutes later, little Cherish was asleep on Jessie and James' bed,   
surrounded by blankets and pillows. James sat at the ding room table, holding a bag of   
ice to his head. Jessie watched over him as Meowth slept in the corner. Annie sat on the   
couch, silently praying her thanks to any benevolent spirit that would listen.   
  
Outside the cabin, Annie's car pulled up, and Michael and Constance climbed   
out. The two Reds walked inside. "All taken care of?" Annie asked quietly.  
  
Michael grinned. "Domino's car is so deep in the Zubat caves they'll never find   
it."   
  
Constance laughed. "And I think the Zubats were already very happy with their   
new pink toilet." She added.  
  
"Thank you. Thank you all for what you've done. But we still have a problem."   
Annie said. All eyes turned to her. "What do I do now? Where can I go? Domino's not   
going to just give up, not after what I've done."  
  
Jessie looked up, worried. She hadn't even thought of this.  
Michael and Constance's faces held the same look. At the dining table, James set the   
bag of ice down and stood up. "I have an idea…" he began. All eyes turned to him as he   
stepped toward them.  
  
TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART TWELVE: THE RUNAWAY ROCKETS 


	12. The Runaway Rockets/Epilogue: The Return...

PART TWELVE – THE RUNAWAY ROCKETS  
  
Dawn had arrived. The sun rose over the top of Mount Moon as rays of red early   
morning light shot down to the valley below. In the valley, two young trainers sat at a   
picnic table and watched with a hint of apprehension as their companion approached   
Michael slowly, then gave him a big hug. "It's good to see you again, big brother."   
Katastrophie said quietly.   
  
Michael smiled. It had been almost a year since his father had volunteered to turn   
his Victreebell over to Giovanni so that his daughter Kat could go free, released from the   
Team and able to rejoin the two friends she had left behind when she had been forced to   
return. On the day she had left, Michael had given her a specially coded transmitter that   
only he had known about, a means of being able to contact each other from time to time.   
The Red Rocket had intended to use it to check up on his sister at least once a month,   
and had told his parents of that intention, but life and missions had made it almost   
impossible. Fortunately, the transmitter had not been lost or damaged, and Michael had   
been able to arrange the meeting with Kat in a valley just outside Cerulean City fairly   
easily. "It's great to see you again as well, Kat. These guys treating you all right?" he   
asked, motioning at Kyle and Lunia. Kyle, the son of Ash and Misty Ketchum, looked   
at Michael with quiet caution. The last time he had seen this guy, Kat had left. Lunia   
Oak stared at her friend's older brother as well, wondering what exactly was going on   
this time.  
  
"They're great." Kat smiled. She noticed the weariness in Michael's eyes, and   
was suddenly filled with concern. "What have you come for, Michael? I can tell   
something's wrong." She asked apprehensively.  
  
"Kat, there's a matter I need your help with." Michael began  
  
Kat's eyes widened, and she backed away shaking her head. "No… no,   
Michael. If it's Team business, no. I- I'm not going back." Kyle's eyes narrowed, and   
he rose up from the bench. Lunia tried to grab his arm and pull him back down, but the   
stubborn trainer brushed her away and marched to Kat's side.  
  
"She's not leaving again, Red." Kyle said protectively, draping his arm around   
Kat's shoulders.  
  
Michael glared at him for a second, then his expression softened. "You care for   
my sister." He said softly.  
  
Kyle's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do."  
  
Michael smiled. "I'm glad." He then turned his eyes back to Kat, giving her the   
look that she knew all too well. "Kat, I'm not asking you to come back to the Team."   
He said.  
  
"What, then?" Kat asked, somewhat relieved.  
  
Michael turned and motioned to the car they had arrived in. Jessie, James, and   
Constance climbed out, followed by an unfamiliar woman with long brown hair. A tiny   
baby was nestled in the woman's arms. At the sight of her parents, Kat's face broke out   
in a huge smile, and Kyle visibly tensed. These were the enemies his parents had told   
him about many a time. "Daddy! Mom!" Kat said as she ran to James and Jessie with   
tears of joy in her eyes. She hugged them both tightly, and smiled at Constance. Kat   
then turned to the other woman, who regarded her with a quiet smile. "I'm sorry, I   
don't believe we've met." She said cordially, extending her hand. "I'm Katastrophie-   
er, Kat, Morgan."  
  
Annie smiled. "Actually, Kat, we have met once before briefly, but I doubt   
you'd remember." She extended her own hand and gripped Kat's firmly. "Annie   
Masterson." She said simply.  
  
Kat smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet…" she began, the stopped. Her eyes   
widened, and her face paled. "M- M- Masterson?" she stammered. She yanked her   
hand away and ran to where Kyle stood. This was an enemy to her family greater than   
any other. "Michael, are you crazy??? That's Annie Masterson!"  
  
Michael put a steadying hand on Kat's shoulder as Kyle held her hand and stared   
at Michael and Annie, angry and confused. "I know, Kat, I know."  
  
"Michael! She hates dad! She'll kill us all!" Kat trembled, memories of her   
parent's stories about Masterson flooding back to her.  
  
Lunia heard this and ran to her friend's side. "You brought a killer here?!" she   
said in furious disbelief.  
  
"It's a long story…" Michael began. He led the group to the table, and the whole   
story came out, from start to finish. Kat couldn't believe what she was hearing in the   
end. "Giovanni's dead?" she whispered in disbelief.  
  
"Has to be." Annie said. "Point blank range, bullet through his back… I   
probably severed the bastard's spinal cord." Her tone was not proud, as it would have   
once been. Now, it was the tone of a determined mother who had only done what was   
needed.  
  
"You saved my family." Kat said. Annie nodded. "But you hate them."  
  
Annie looked at her solemnly. "I've bled all that away."  
  
Kat looked at her, far more ready to believe the former Red Rocket than her   
brother had been. "But where do we fit in?" she asked.  
  
Constance looked at her. "Kat, if Annie stays in one place, she and Cherish will   
be in danger. Team Rocket has standing orders to stay away from you and your friends.   
What we want to know, what we're asking-" Constance paused, and looked to Michael.  
  
"Is if Annie can travel with you." Michael finished. Lunia and Kyle's eyes   
widened, and they looked to Kat.  
  
"Please." Annie said, her eyes begging for the mercy and help of a Morgan once   
again.  
  
"What do you think?" Kat asked her friends.   
  
"It's your call, Kat. If you think she can be trusted, It's your decision." Lunia   
said.  
  
"Kyle?" Kat asked.  
  
"A baby…" Kyle said. "I don't know if we're ready…" he began.  
  
"What?" Kat asked.   
  
Kyle's face flushed. "Uh, I mean able to take care of one." He finished quickly.  
  
"I can take care of my baby." Annie said, rocking Cherish. "But I have no place   
to go, and nobody to go with."  
  
Kat looked at Kyle, whose eyes revealed that this was Kat's decision. "You do   
now." She said quietly to Annie.  
  
A tear rolled down Annie's cheek. "Thank you." She whispered to Kat. Then   
she turned to Michael, Constance, Jessie, and James. "You saved me." She said   
quietly. She shook Michael's hand, and this time there was no doubt in his handshake.   
Annie turned next to Constance. "You have a very special partner. "Don't let him go."  
  
Constance smiled. "I have no intention."  
  
"Thank you." Annie smiled as she shook hands with Constance. Annie turned to   
Meowth next. "Take care, cat." She said simply.  
  
"You take care of dat kid." The Pokemon said, winking at the former Red.   
Annie straightened up and looked at Jessie. "Agent Jessica Morgan." She said.  
  
Jessie looked at her with softened eyes far removed from the look she had used   
when Annie had first knocked on her door just yesterday. "Enjoy being a mother."   
Jessie said softly. "It's a great thing."  
  
"Thank you." Annie said. "I hope I do as good a job as you have."  
  
"You'll do fine." Jessie said sincerely.  
  
Finally Annie turned to her former enemy. "Well, James, I- God, I don't even   
know what to say."  
  
James smiled at the very person who had tried to kill him twice before. "You   
don't have to say anything, Annie."  
  
Annie looked at him, humbled. "Thank you. Thank you so much." She said   
quietly as she reached out her hand. James shook her hand for a second, then Annie   
pulled him close and whispered in his ear, "God bless you, James Morgan."  
  
With that, Annie turned away and walked to where her new companions stood.   
"Where to?" she asked them.   
  
The three looked at each other. "Cerulean." Kyle replied simply. Annie nodded,   
and the group walked slowly away. James waved after them then slowly lowered his   
hand as his wife and son gathered around him.  
  
"Dad?" Michael asked.  
  
"Hmm?" James replied.  
  
"What did she say to you just now?"  
  
"Oh, nothing… Nothing at all." James replied with a twinkle in his eye.  
  
The group trudged back to the car and drove away, each one anxious to get back   
to the cabin and get some well-earned sleep.  
  
EPILOGUE – RETURN OF THE GREEN BRANCH  
  
Domino sat on the chair in the hallway, occasionally rubbing her sore, bandaged   
head. Finally, the double doors swung open, and Green Branch Rocket Dr. Jason   
Calhoun emerged. "Well?" she barked impatiently.  
  
"Success, Mistress Domino." Calhoun replied. "He'll live." Calhoun's voice   
was hiding something. Domino detected it instantly.  
  
"But?" she persisted.  
  
Calhoun nervously shifted from one foot to the other. "The bullet nicked part of   
the spinal cord. I'm afraid he'll be paralyzed from the waist down, and confined to a   
wheelchair."  
  
Domino's face clouded, then cleared. "That won't keep him down." She said   
determinedly.  
  
Calhoun nodded. "He's on a lot of painkillers and he's kind of in and out at   
times, but you can go see him if you want."  
  
Domino rose without a word and marched through the double doors. Under a   
single bulb sat a hospital bed where Giovanni lay, his face tight with anger and   
determination. He looked so different now… in a hospital-style gown rather than his   
usual suit. His hair was mussed, and Domino used her hand to smooth it down.   
"Domino?" Giovanni asked. His voice was thick, and it was obvious the painkillers   
were kicking in.  
  
"Yes, sir?" she asked, leaning close to his face.  
  
"Domino… this… is… not… over." Giovanni said as he slumped back, falling   
into the blackness of unconsciousness.   
  
"No. No, it most certainly is not." Domino said darkly. The Master Class Red   
Rocket pulled her trademark pink cap down low over her eyes, shadowing them as she   
walked out of the room, leaving her wounded employer to his rest.  
  
THE END  
  
NOTE: Domino's lullaby is a slightly re-worded excerpt of the song "The World is   
Wrong (and I'm So Right)" Music and lyrics Copyright © 1995 & 1996 Aaron Milenski   
and Steve Bechard and recorded by the Palindromes. 


End file.
